Perception of dental students of COMS-TH regarding future of dentistry in Nepal amid COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: There is a global crisis which has been led by COVID-19. The patients undergoing dental procedures and dental professionals are at higher risk of contracting this disease owing to aerosols generated and a lot of face to face contact during the procedures. The aim of this study was to know the perceptions of dental students of COMS-TH regarding future of dentistry in Nepal amid COVID-19 pandemic Methods: The present cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at COMS-TH, Bharatpur by sending an online e-survey questionnaire to 146 dental students out of which 99 responded. The e-survey questionnaire consisted of three parts which consisted of questions about demographics, knowledge about COVID-19 and their perceptions about future of dentistry. Results: The results of the study depicted that most of the students thought dentistry is good and noble profession and will recommend it to young medical aspirants. Most of them wanted to pursue post graduation courses in future giving preference to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Conclusions: The study concluded that most of the dental students were satisfied with dentistry as their profession and wanted National Dental Association to fix the minimum charges of each dental procedure. Also there is a need to start more post graduation courses in existing institutions providing dental education as most of the students want to pursue it in future.