Effects of COVID-19 on Dental Surgery Teaching Methods among Final Year Students in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Post-Pandemic Study

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 Pandemic which took the world by a storm in the year 2020 has had a far-reaching effect on all segments of human development, and especially on education and dental surgery, through the social distancing measures and the phases of lockdowns it imposed, infection prevention measures, among other things. Objectives: To assess the impact COVID-19 has had on dental surgery teaching methods and skill acquisition among final year students of dentistry and dental surgery in a developing country like Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional study of final-year dental students across four (4) dental schools in Nigeria using a structured online Google form. Data was collected from fifty-four (54) respondents and the data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. Results: The respondents agreed that COVID-19 reduced metrics such as physical practical sessions (83.3% of the respondents), contact times with patients (85.2%), physical classes’ reduction (31.5%), theatre experiences (61.1%), ability to meet up with training requirements (72.2%), flow chart affectation (79.6%), and availability of equipment for dental surgery training (53.7%). The cost of training increased according to 70.4% of the respondents while dental skills acquisition further reduced according to 61.1% of the respondents. There was an association between the institution of study and the effect of the pandemic on dental skills acquisition, however, the association wasn’t significant (Fischer’s exact value – 15.326. Degrees of significance p = 0.06. There was also no significant correlation between age and the effect of the pandemic on dental skills acquisition. (Pearson’s correlate = -0.030, Significance (2-tailed) = 0.892) Conclusion: The effect of COVID-19 on dental surgery teaching methods have been largely negative, reducing amount of practical sessions, reducing student’s interaction with patients, increasing cost and length of training among other negative effects, with a minor increase in access to journal groups and website links. Recommendation: Despite the reduction in overall teaching experience, there is a need to inculcate training in infection prevention and control to arm dental trainees with the wherewithal to protect themselves from infection. In addition, to further improve access to the online classes, the government can channel a part of the budget on education towards subsidizing the cost of data access to online learning platforms like Zoom and Google meet, by liaising with internet service providers and making provision for WiFi in the different campuses.