The age range of respondents was 21–48 years with the mean age of respondents being 27.2 ± 3.2 years. Those questionnaires with missing data on sex and age were excluded from the analysis where the variables were required for analysis. Table 1 shows the distribution of the respondents’ agreement with alternative suggestions made for the treatment of the high- and low-risk cases. Almost a quarter of the respondents had no clue on the appropriateness of the suggestions made for the management of the cases. Over half of the respondents agreed
with each of the following alternatives in patient caries-preventive care for both the high- and low-risk cases: Giving instructions on brushing, recommending use of fluoridated toothpaste, and giving instructions on flossing see more for the high- and low-risk cases. Recommending the use of fluoridated toothpaste, giving instruction on tooth brushing and doing professional
prophylaxis were more commonly reported caries-preventive measures for both the low- and high-risk cases. Over a third of the respondents believed that the other alternatives should be included for the low-risk patient (Fig. 1). Overall, there was no clear delineable difference in the treatment plan for the high- and low-risk cases. Seventy (39.1%) students Dasatinib nmr had acceptable caries-preventive practice. No factor was found significantly associated with acceptable caries-preventive practice in children (Table 2). Also, although high knowledge of preventive dental care was associated with a onefold increase in acceptable caries-preventive practice
for children, this finding was not significant. There were no identifiable factors associated with final-year dental students providing acceptable caries-preventive practice for children in the study population (Table 3). This study is important as dental students are the future dentists Rolziracetam who will be saddled with the responsibility of implementing clinical care for patients. The outcome of the study is a pointer to how well the current dental education curriculum had succeeded in training a prevention-oriented workforce that can address the caries-preventive dental needs of Nigerian children. The results also help to identify where there are gaps and what needs to be addressed in training students on caries prevention for children. The study showed that the students generally applied a blanket approach in designing treatment plans for the two hypothetical cases: there appeared to be no difference in the management modalities for children with both high and low caries risk. As a result, patients with both high and low caries risk were prescribed both home-based and professional care approach for management.