Uncertainty in Relation to Clinical Experience-A Qualitative Study on Dental Students' Reflections on Risk Assessment of Root Filled Teeth.

AIM: In uncertain clinical situations, such as assessing the risk of exacerbation of apical periodontitis in root-filled teeth, undergraduate students can benefit from being trained to reflect. This study aimed to explore how students specifically reflected on clinical experiences in relation to uncertainty when assessing a case involving a root-filled tooth with apical periodontitis.

METHODOLOGY: Short reflections were written by 52 dental students at Malmö University in 2021. All students were asked to reflect on the risk for exacerbation of apical periodontitis in a case with a root-filled tooth with a diffuse widening of the periodontal ligament space. The reflections were written according to prompts developed to stimulate reflection. For each student, the reflections were analysed by a qualitative method, Systematic Text Condensation (STC).

RESULTS

The analysis of the qualitative data resulted in the formulation of two themes about experience and lack of experience: Theme 1 'The meaning of clinical experience' and Theme 2 'Differences and similarities'. The themes were subdivided into nine subgroups and described the relationship between experience and certainty.

CONCLUSIONS

The students believed that certainty comes with experience even when there is a lack of scientific evidence.