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Novice dentists’ self-efficacy775IntroductionDespite the fact that undergraduate dental education prepares students for their role as dentists, transitioning from dental school to independent practice is challenging (ESE 2013; Field et al. 2017, Musaeus 2018). Lack of clinical experience in performing root canal treatments during undergraduate dental education is considered to be a problem, which may add to the various challenges of the transition into general practice (Dahlström et al. 2017, Davey et al. 2015). Although novice dentists are regarded as being competent in performing uncomplicated root canal treatments upon graduation, this may not always be their own perception (Dahlström et al. 2017, Davey et al. 2015, ESE 2013, Murray & Chandler 2014). Many dentists find it difficult to accomplish a good quality and economically viable root canal treatment, and feel frustrated about this (Dahlström et al. 2017). Although they have unpleasant associations with root canal treatment, they have to deal with these regularly in their practice (Dahlström et al. 2017). As it is unachievable to be exposed to every possible situation during undergraduate dental training, novice dentists have to trust their capabilities and rely on transfer. Hence, it is important that novice dentists feel that they have developed sufficient knowledge and skills to cope with challenges they meet whilst practising dentistry, including the ones that they have not yet dealt with during their undergraduate training.One’s performance on work-related demanding tasks, and whether one will use the academic competencies one has achieved, could be predicted by one’s self-efficacy (Gist & Mitchell 1992, Pajares & Miller 1994, Zimmerman 2000). Self-efficacy combines one’s perceived competence with confidence in their abilities, and also takes environmental factors that may influence performance into account (Gist & Mitchell 1992, Oney & Oksuzoglu-Guven 2015). Self-efficacy can be defined as the belief and self-assurance that you will be able to perform specific tasks successfully, and it is an important motivational construct (Gist & Mitchell 1992). People with high self-efficacy undertake challenging tasks more readily and pursue greater perseverance than people with low self-efficacy do, and the chances that a task is performed successfully are higher when performed by people with high self-efficacy (Bandura 2006, Zimmerman 2000). Besides, a high level of self-efficacy improves the degree of skill retention (Gist & Mitchell 1992). Hence, novice dentists should not only be competent, but also be self-efficacious. Annemarie Baaij.indd 77 28-06-2023 12:26