Page 49 - Demo

Teaching in Endodontics assessed via self-efficacy473Being appropriately skilled is a prerequisite for self-efficacy (2). All participants in the present study can be considered appropriately skilled in performing root canal treatment since they all succeeded in the summative assessment. The performance of the participants in performing root canal treatment was in accordance with that of students of other dental schools around the world – of whom the reported ‘acceptable’ quality of root canal treatments varied between 23% and 79% (13-20) – and was not related to their self-efficacy or self-perceived competence. Exaggerated findings of self-efficacy or self-perceived competence because of over-confident students who might think that they are competent while they are actually incompetent are thus not expected in this sample. The influence of undergraduate endodontic education on the students’ perception of preparedness for performing endodontic treatment was measured differently in several previous studies (3-8). In the absence of a gold standard, a new questionnaire was composed for the present study to survey students’ perception of their competence and their confidence. The internal consistency of this Endodontic Self-Perceived Competence Scale seemed good: Cronbach’s alpha=0.818. For the dependent variable ‘self-perceived competence’, statistically significant differences were found between some of the independent variables. Among the answers to the separate questions of the scale, statistically significant differences were found as well. The Endodontic Self-Perceived Competence Scale seems to be a reliable test. Determining the quality of a root canal treatment through interpreting periapical radiographs is arguable. Regarding interpreting periapical radiographs, the intra-observer reliability of observer one was almost perfect (κ=0.91), of observer two it was moderate (κ=0.55); the inter-observer reliability was moderate (κ=0.48) as well (21). It is known that the agreement between observers is in general low (22, 23). Unfortunately, in clinical endodontics, respecting ethical grounds, we do not really have better alternatives. Besides, this method for determining the quality of root canal treatments is often used in endodontic research and practice, and there is evidence that the quality determined this way is related to the outcome of a root canal treatment (24, 25). The intermediate cohort of students was limited in size, and in case of convenience sampling, like here, it is unknown whether the participants represented the population well. Therefore, drawing firm conclusions regarding these data is avoided. Annemarie Baaij.indd 47 28-06-2023 12:26