Abstract
Background: Bleaching is considered the most conservative and cost-effective aesthetic procedure. Vital and non-vital bleaching techniques commonly involve at-home, in-office, and over-the-counter techniques and can be internal (within the pulp chamber) or external (on the enamel surface).
Aim: To assess the attitudes of clinical dental students towards the various aspects of tooth bleaching in Saudi Arabia
Design and settings: This is an observational cross-sectional study that was carried out across different universities in Saudi Arabia. The study's questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the demographics and knowledge of dental bleaching procedures, techniques, and materials.
Results: A total of 674 dental students and interns from 14 different governmental and private dental colleges in Saudi Arabia completed the survey. The majority of participants were females, 461 (68.4%), attended governmental universities, 396 (58.8%), and did not use any bleaching techniques (62.8%). Dental interns had a higher level of knowledge (42%) followed by 5th-year students (33.7%), and 6th-year students (22.9%). Furthermore, participants who practiced tooth bleaching during clinical training and private universities' students showed a significantly better bleaching knowledge
Conclusion: Overall, dental schools should be encouraging their students to be involved in bleaching application. Additionally, there is a pressing need to focus more on dental bleaching material and procedures in dental school.