Environmental Sustainability: The Attitudes and Experiences of UK Students in the Oral Healthcare Professions

Objective: This study aims to provide insight into the attitudes and perspectives of undergraduate dental students from UK dental schools regarding Environmental Sustainability in Dentistry (ESD) and the manner and extent in which ESD is included in the current undergraduate Oral Healthcare curricula
Methods: This study is a multi-centre, nationally representive study involving a cross sectional online survey of undergraduate BDS and DH&DT students in UK based dental schools. Data analysis was conducted through descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.
Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Sheffield’s Research Ethics Committee (Application 044529)
Results: 263 students from thirteen UK schools completed the survey, resulting in a national school response rate of 68.4%. Key findings are: 97.3% of students believe that the dental profession should be more actively engaged in environmental sustainability, however students currently having very little exposure to ESD at an undergraduate level. 76.8% of students expressed that they are concerned about the impact that oral healthcare provision has on the environment, but only 23% of students have independently researched ESD.
Conclusions: Students identify that oral healthcare professionals should become more engaged in efforts to mitigate the negative impacts from our activities on the environment, principally via education at all levels. The data from this study provides insight into the current level of awareness and concerns for the environmental impacts of oral healthcare provision, and is a powerful driver for the inclusion of ESD into the undergraduate curriculum in UK based dental schools.

研究目的：本研究旨在深入了解英国牙科院校本科生对牙科可持续性（ESD）的态度和观点，以及ESD在当前本科口腔医疗课程中的涵盖方式和程度。研究方法：本研究是一项多中心、全国代表性的研究，涉及对英国牙科院校本科BDS和DH&DT学生的横断面在线调查。数据分析通过描述性统计和主题分析进行。伦理审查已获得谢菲尔德大学研究伦理委员会的批准（申请号044529）。研究结果：来自十三所英国学校的263名学生完成了调查，全国学校响应率为68.4%。主要发现包括：97.3%的学生认为牙科职业应更积极地参与环境可持续性，然而，目前本科生对ESD的接触非常有限。76.8%的学生表示他们担心口腔医疗提供对环境的影响，但只有23%的学生独立研究了ESD。研究结论：学生认为口腔医疗专业人员应更加参与减轻我们活动对环境负面影响的努力，主要通过在各教育层级的教育来实现。本研究的数据为英国牙科院校本科课程中包含ESD提供了对当前环境意识和对口腔医疗提供环境影响的担忧的洞察，并成为推动ESD纳入课程的有力动力。