Effectiveness of an environmental educational program on intern dentists' knowledge and practices regarding eco-friendly green dentistry: a quasi-experimental study

• Published in: BMC medical education 2025-01, Vol.25 (1), p.32-11, Article 32
• Main Authors: Hassan, Eman Helmy, Lotfy, Nesma, Abdou, Mamdouh Hanafy, Fetohy, Ebtisam Mohamed, Hussein, Mohamed Fakhry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; College Faculty; Conservation of Natural Resources; Dental Evaluation; Dentistry; Dentists; Disease control; eco-friendly; Education; Egypt; Environmental aspects; Environmental education; Environmental impact; Environmental Influences; Environmental programs; Environmental sustainability; Female; green dentistry; Hazardous Materials; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Instructional Effectiveness; intern dentists; Internship and Residency; Internship Programs; Internships; Knowledge; Knowledge Level; Male; Medical education; Medicine; Methods; Natural resources; Practice; Predominantly White Institutions; Pretesting; Pretests Posttests; Program Effectiveness; Program Evaluation; Program Implementation; Quasi-experimental methods; Questionnaires; Radiology; Recycling; Sample Size; Study and teaching; Test Construction; Training; Validity; X-rays; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-06523-7

The dental industry is associated with significant environmental impacts so there is a growing need for eco-friendly practices in dentistry. This study aimed to assess dental interns' knowledge and practices regarding eco-friendly dentistry before and after the implementation of the environmental educational program. An interventional quasi-experimental study (one group pre-test-post-test design) was conducted on 69 intern dentists at the Faculty of Dentistry Alexandria University. Assessment of knowledge and practices related to eco-friendly dentistry was performed three times: before, after two months, and after four months of the educational program. The mean age of participants was 23.72 years; 56.5% were males; 89.9% hadn't received prior training on eco-friendly dentistry; and 40.6% obtained their green dentistry information from online websites. The educational program significantly improved their knowledge (median score percentage went from 50% before the intervention to 81.82% and 81.82% after two and four months of the conducting of the educational program, respectively.) and eco-friendly practices (median score percentage increased from 58.33% before the intervention to 75% and 66.67% after two and four months of the intervention, respectively) and the differences were statistically significant (p