Table 3 Comparisons of perceptions of aspects of oral healthcare practice that need to be learned (in theory) 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* | |
What kinds of treatments or instructions of oral healthcare do you think you need to learn in lecture? | ||||||||
 Support of tooth brushing | 75.0 | 87.5 | 0.117 | 67.0 | 89.3 | < 0.000 | 0.319 | 0.742 |
 Use of an interspace brush | 85.4 | 83.3 | 0.779 | 78.6 | 76.7 | 0.738 | 0.325 | 0.353 |
 Swabbing of oral soft issue | 75.0 | 75.0 | 1.000 | 72.8 | 82.5 | 0.094 | 0.777 | 0.281 |
 Removal tongue coating | 58.3 | 75.0 | 0.083 | 47.6 | 70.9 | 0.001 | 0.218 | 0.598 |
 Indirect training for swallowing | 58.3 | 75.0 | 0.083 | 20.4 | 77.7 | < 0.000 | < 0.000 | 0.717 |
 Direct training for swallowing (using foods and drinks) | 58.3 | 72.9 | 0.133 | 21.4 | 72.8 | < 0.000 | < 0.000 | 0.990 |
 Gargling | 60.4 | 70.8 | 0.283 | 49.5 | 66.0 | 0.016 | 0.211 | 0.556 |
 Denture cleaning | 62.5 | 70.8 | 0.386 | 34.0 | 71.8 | < 0.000 | 0.001 | 0.898 |
 Salivary gland massage | 54.2 | 66.7 | 0.210 | 34.0 | 86.4 | < 0.000 | 0.019 | 0.005 |
 Oral management in the perioperative ward | 52.1 | 64.6 | 0.214 | 31.1 | 84.5 | < 0.000 | 0.013 | 0.006 |
 Language training | 31.3 | 62.5 | 0.002 | 18.4 | 55.3 | < 0.000 | 0.079 | 0.407 |
 At-home dental care | 52.1 | 62.5 | 0.302 | 50.5 | 73.8 | 0.001 | 0.855 | 0.158 |
 Other | 2.1 | 8.3 | 0.168 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.000 | 0.954 | 0.061 |