Oral health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KAB) of dental students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Oral health is an essential component of overall health. However, it is frequently overlooked. As the main providers of oral health care, dental students play an important role in public education on oral health. The aim of this study is to integrate the oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB) of dental students, and provide reference for optimizing oral health education strategies.

Methods: Pubmed, Web of science, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Cochrane library and CINAHL databases were retrieved on September 15, 2024. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were meticulously adhered to throughout the literature review and data extraction process. All observational studies detailing the dental students' KAB related about oral health were included. A meta-analysis was conducted utilizing Stata17.0 software.

Results: Nineteen articles of moderate to high quality from 17 different countries met the eligibility criteria and involved a total of 7,747 dental students. In our review, the oral health-related KAB of dental students was at a medium level and overall mean score was 7.15 (95% CI: 6.82, 7.47); among them, students have a higher level of knowledge 3.59 (95% CI: 3.21, 3.97), but relatively few positive attitudes 1.59 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.95) and behaviors 2.20 (95% CI: 2.07, 2.34) towards oral health. Subgroup analysis revealed that KAB was higher in European regions, female, and senior dental students with clinical experience.

Conclusions: The oral health-related KAB of dental students are at a medium level, among which the knowledge level is better, but the attitude and behaviors are relatively less positive. Therefore, dental educators should consider this as an opportunity to call for and strengthen the early implementation of preventive elements in curriculum and incorporate them into the overall teaching plan of dental students through various educational strategies such as early exposure to clinical scenarios and problem-based learning to positively influence students' behaviors and attitudes. The findings of this study can serve as a bias for dental educators to adjust teaching strategies in a timely manner.