Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Background This study examined whether dental education is associated with changes in self-reported and observed oral hygiene behaviour, manual dexterity, and oral hygiene-related self-efficacy. Methods Dental students (N = 255) from all study years at a German university completed a survey on oral hygiene behaviour and self-efficacy. Of these, N = 82 were available for laboratory testing of their oral hygiene performance and manual dexterity and provided evaluable data. Toothbrushing and interdental cleaning behaviour were video-recorded and coded for tooth contact time, surface coverage, brushing movements, and correctness of dental floss use. Manual dexterity was measured using the Grooved Pegboard Test. It was hypothesised that final-year students would outperform first-year students in terms of brushing time on and coverage of palatinal/lingual surfaces, avoidance of horizontal scrubbing movements, interdental hygiene behaviour, and manual dexterity. Results Of the overall sample, 62% (n = 160) reported that their oral hygiene behaviour had changed during their studies. Regarding the precise nature of these changes the majority gave unspecific answers. Self-efficacy was high in all study years with no differences. Laboratory testing showed that compared to first-year students, final-year students brushed nearly one minute longer (215 ± 59s vs. 272 ± 79s) and showed better coverage of oral surfaces during brushing (p ≤ 0.05). No other hypotheses were statistically significant. Conclusion The pattern of tooth-brushing behaviour of this sample of dental students was well within the range of other studies that have analysed the tooth-brushing behaviour of dental laypeople. Studying dentistry <italic>per se</italic> apparently does not go ahead with a significant alteration of observed of oral hygiene behaviour. Trial registration: https://drks.de/search/en DRKS00031601 </p>