Table 1 Comparisons of attitudes towards oral healthcare practice between students in their first and fourth years and between dental and nursing students
|  | Dental students (n = 48) | Nursing students (n = 103) | Dental versus nursing students | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First year | Fourth year | Â | First year | Fourth year | Â | First year | Fourth year | |
% | % | P value* | % | % | P value* | P value* | P value* | |
Are you interested in oral healthcare practice? | ||||||||
 Very much | 31.3 | 41.7 | 0.010 | 19.4 | 38.8 | 0.003 | 0.557 | 0.255 |
 Somewhat | 37.5 | 52.1 |  | 44.7 | 45.6 |  |  |  |
 A little | 25.0 | 6.3 |  | 27.2 | 13.6 |  |  |  |
 Not very much | 6.3 | 0.0 |  | 7.8 | 1.9 |  |  |  |
 Not at all | 0.0 | 0.0 |  | 1.0 | 0.0 |  |  |  |
Do you think you want to practise oral healthcare after obtaining your professional post-qualification? | ||||||||
 Very much | 29.2 | 29.2 | 0.364 | 5.8 | 28.2 | < 0.000 | < 0.000 | 0.545 |
 Somewhat | 47.9 | 54.2 |  | 36.9 | 50.5 |  |  |  |
 A little | 16.7 | 16.7 |  | 39.8 | 19.4 |  |  |  |
 Not very much | 6.3 | 0.0 |  | 16.5 | 1.9 |  |  |  |
 Not at all | 0.0 | 0.0 |  | 1.0 | 0.0 |  |  |  |
What proportion of your duties will be dedicated to practising oral healthcare post-qualification? | ||||||||
 ≥ 75% | 6.5 | 27.7 | 0.025 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 0.732 | 0.002 | < 0.000 |
 50–74% | 43.5 | 31.9 |  | 18.4 | 17.5 |  |  |  |
 25–49% | 37.0 | 21.3 |  | 38.8 | 34.0 |  |  |  |
 < 25% | 13.0 | 19.1 |  | 38.8 | 41.7 |  |  |  |