Undergraduate Dental Students' Perceptions of Teaching Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine in Latin America: A Multicenter Study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perceptions of undergraduate dental students regarding the teaching of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine (OP/OM) in Latin American countries. METHODS: This study included 364 undergraduate dental students from seven Latin American countries. Data were collected through a questionnaire about the teaching of OP/OM in relation to the participants' perception and satisfaction. Comparisons between disciplines and between countries were performed using Pearson's chi-square, Wilcoxon, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with post hoc pairwise comparisons conducted using the Dunn test with Bonferroni correction. A significance level of 5% was adopted. RESULTS: Significant differences between countries were observed in most OM domains (p < 0.05), with Argentina presenting higher overall satisfaction compared to all other countries, while differences in OP were limited to teaching quality and availability of materials and resources, with no significant difference in overall satisfaction across countries (p < 0.05). OM was associated with higher evaluations than OP in teaching quality, clinical usefulness, availability of resources, motivation, and overall satisfaction (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Perceptions of OP/OM teaching among Latin American dental students were generally positive, with OM receiving more favorable evaluations than OP across select domains. Satisfaction with OM varied significantly between countries, while OP showed greater homogeneity across the region.

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Publication Details

Journal
Oral Diseases
Published
2026-05-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.70355
Primary Topic
Innovations in Medical Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Undergraduate Dental Students' Perceptions of Teaching Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine in Latin America: A Multicenter Study

Gabriela Anaya‐Saavedra, Janeth Liliam Flores Ramos, Gerardo Gilligan, Tarcı́lia Aparecida Silva et al.
Oral Diseases
Innovations in Medical Education
article

Undergraduate Dental Students' Perceptions of Teaching Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine in Latin America: A Multicenter Study

Gabriela Anaya‐Saavedra, Janeth Liliam Flores Ramos, Gerardo Gilligan, Tarcı́lia Aparecida Silva, Bruno Augusto Benevenuto de Andrade, Beatriz Rezende Bergo, Damián Alfredo Tello Terán, Estela Kaminagakura, Paulo Rogério Ferreti Bonan, Luiz Miguel Ferreira, Zêus Araujo Cunha, Hercílio Martelli‐Júnior, Marcos Paulo Maia‐Lima, Mariana Villarroel‐Dorrego, Claudia Patricia Peña Vega, Andrés Rueda Jiménez, Patricia Reiván‐Ortiz
article en

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perceptions of undergraduate dental students regarding the teaching of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine (OP/OM) in Latin American countries. METHODS: This study included 364 undergraduate dental students from seven Latin American countries. Data were collected through a questionnaire about the teaching of OP/OM in relation to the participants' perception and satisfaction. Comparisons between disciplines and between countries were performed using Pearson's chi-square, Wilcoxon, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with post hoc pairwise comparisons conducted using the Dunn test with Bonferroni correction. A significance level of 5% was adopted. RESULTS: Significant differences between countries were observed in most OM domains (p < 0.05), with Argentina presenting higher overall satisfaction compared to all other countries, while differences in OP were limited to teaching quality and availability of materials and resources, with no significant difference in overall satisfaction across countries (p < 0.05). OM was associated with higher evaluations than OP in teaching quality, clinical usefulness, availability of resources, motivation, and overall satisfaction (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Perceptions of OP/OM teaching among Latin American dental students were generally positive, with OM receiving more favorable evaluations than OP across select domains. Satisfaction with OM varied significantly between countries, while OP showed greater homogeneity across the region.

Oral Diseases
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR), Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR), Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (BO), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (AR), Universidade Federal da Paraíba (BR), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) (BR), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), Viña del Mar University (CL), Universidad Nacional de Colombia (CO), Universidad Católica de Cuenca (EC), Hospital de Clínicas da Unicamp (BR), Universidade Estadual de Montes Claros (BR), Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (BR), Universidad Santa María (VE), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp) (BR)
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Innovations in Medical Education
DOISourceOpenAlex
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