title: Perception of Dental Public Health Competency among recent graduates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to assess how competent the recent dental graduates perceive themselves to be in Dental Public Health.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 21-item structured, close-ended questionnaire study was carried out at the KLEVK Institute of Dental Sciences, Belgaum, India. Students assessed their competencies using a three-point ordinal scale. One hundred and thirty-three students were asked to rate their proficiency on a 21-item matrix of the dental public health program. The responses were grouped using the Likert-type scale. Frequencies descriptive data were generated, and statistical analysis of examined variables was carried out using the Chi-square test. Mann-Whitney test was conducted to identify the correlation between variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall mean score was 22.61 ± 10.94, highlighting confidence of the graduates in managing the oral health problems at the community level. Females showed higher competencies in functions related "to develop activities to motivate the community development," "to motivate health and oral health through health education," and "to motivate health and oral health through the creation of healthy settings." While males reported greater competency for the function "to adjust the dental practice to situations of restrictions that limits it."
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent dental graduates at the Institute perceived themselves competent in managing oral and dental health problems at the public level. Additional countrywide evidence regarding teaching and learning of public health dentistry is essential to compare the current experiences of dental graduates and ultimately enhance patient care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Ridhima B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gaunkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Goa Dental College and Hospital, Goa, India.
authors.forename: Puttaswamy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Basavarajappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Al-Farabi College for Dentistry and Nursing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Syed A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Raheel
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Al-Farabi College for Dentistry and Nursing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia.
authors.forename: Omar B
authors.initials: OB
authors.lastname: Kujan
keywords: Competency; dental public health; graduates; perception