Awareness and educational needs regarding ultrasonography in dental education and practice among undergraduate and postgraduate dental students
- 1Department of Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Dokuz Eylul University, 15 July Health and Art Campus Medicine Classrooms Building No:56/17, İnciraltı, Balçova/İzmir, 35340 Turkey
- 2Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to assess the level of knowledge, clinical awareness, and educational needs regarding ultrasonography (USG) among undergraduate and postgraduate dentistry students.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 431 participants, comprising 231 postgraduate residents from 57 universities across Türkiye and 200 undergraduate students from Dokuz Eylul University. The researcher-developed, pilot-tested online questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, USG education and experience, knowledge level, clinical applications, and educational needs.
Results: While 53.8% of the participants reported having received USG education at the undergraduate level, 75.3% and 78.3% of postgraduate students stated that they had not received theoretical and practical USG training, respectively. Among survey respondents, 14.8% reported routinely integrating USG into their clinical decision-making. Within the postgraduate cohort, a highly significant disparity was observed: residents in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (DMFR) reported a substantially higher rate of routine integration (69.3%) compared to residents in all other dental specialties combined (1.3%, p < 0.001). The most common clinical applications of USG were salivary gland evaluation (28.8%), assessment of masses/lesions (25.8%), and lymph node examination (23.0%). Participants who had received practical USG training reported higher routine integration of USG into clinical decision-making (p < 0.001) and higher anatomical structure recognition (p < 0.05) than those without practical training. Difficulty in image interpretation was the most frequently reported barrier (63.6%), while most participants preferred combined theoretical and practical USG training (65.2%).
Conclusion: Despite the diagnostic and clinical value of USG in dentistry, there is a lack of practical training at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Incorporating structured theoretical and practical USG education into dental curricula may contribute to improving knowledge, awareness, and the integration of USG into clinical decision-making.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7.
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BibTeX
@article{ilhan2026awareness,
title = {{Awareness and educational needs regarding ultrasonography in dental education and practice among undergraduate and postgraduate dental students}},
author = {Gunnur Ilhan and Mehmet Emin Arayici and Fatma Akkoca},
journal = {BMC Oral Health},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Awareness and educational needs regarding ultrasonography in dental education and practice among undergraduate and postgraduate dental students
AU - Gunnur Ilhan
AU - Mehmet Emin Arayici
AU - Fatma Akkoca
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/07
JO - BMC Oral Health
DO - 10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7
AB - Objectives: This study aims to assess the level of knowledge, clinical awareness, and educational needs regarding ultrasonography (USG) among undergraduate and postgraduate dentistry students. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 431 participants, comprising 231 postgraduate residents from 57 universities across Türkiye and 200 undergraduate students from Dokuz Eylul University. The researcher-developed, pilot-tested online questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, USG education and experience, knowledge level, clinical applications, and educational needs. Results: While 53.8% of the participants reported having received USG education at the undergraduate level, 75.3% and 78.3% of postgraduate students stated that they had not received theoretical and practical USG training, respectively. Among survey respondents, 14.8% reported routinely integrating USG into their clinical decision-making. Within the postgraduate cohort, a highly significant disparity was observed: residents in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (DMFR) reported a substantially higher rate of routine integration (69.3%) compared to residents in all other dental specialties combined (1.3%, p < 0.001). The most common clinical applications of USG were salivary gland evaluation (28.8%), assessment of masses/lesions (25.8%), and lymph node examination (23.0%). Participants who had received practical USG training reported higher routine integration of USG into clinical decision-making (p < 0.001) and higher anatomical structure recognition (p < 0.05) than those without practical training. Difficulty in image interpretation was the most frequently reported barrier (63.6%), while most participants preferred combined theoretical and practical USG training (65.2%). Conclusion: Despite the diagnostic and clinical value of USG in dentistry, there is a lack of practical training at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Incorporating structured theoretical and practical USG education into dental curricula may contribute to improving knowledge, awareness, and the integration of USG into clinical decision-making. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-026-09541-7.
SN - 1472-6831
ER -