Table 4 Comparisons of perceptions of aspects of oral healthcare practice that need to be learned (in 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* | |
What kinds of treatments or instructions of oral healthcare do you think you need to learn in practice? | ||||||||
 Support of tooth brushing | 70.8 | 87.5 | 0.044 | 76.7 | 95.1 | < 0.000 | 0.439 | 0.092 |
 Use of an interspace brush | 85.4 | 81.3 | 0.584 | 80.6 | 79.6 | 0.861 | 0.470 | 0.814 |
 Indirect training for swallowing | 58.3 | 75.0 | 0.083 | 29.1 | 70.9 | < 0.000 | 0.001 | 0.598 |
 Direct training for swallowing (using foods and drinks) | 56.3 | 75.0 | 0.053 | 26.2 | 68.9 | < 0.000 | < 0.000 | 0.445 |
 Swabbing of oral soft issue | 72.9 | 72.9 | 1.000 | 72.8 | 82.5 | 0.094 | 0.990 | 0.174 |
 Removal of tongue coating | 66.7 | 72.9 | 0.505 | 50.5 | 73.8 | 0.001 | 0.062 | 0.910 |
 Gargling | 60.4 | 72.9 | 0.194 | 53.4 | 66.0 | 0.065 | 0.419 | 0.397 |
 Salivary gland massage | 58.3 | 70.8 | 0.200 | 39.8 | 87.4 | < 0.000 | 0.033 | 0.013 |
 Language training | 37.5 | 66.7 | 0.004 | 18.4 | 65.0 | < 0.000 | 0.011 | 0.846 |
 Oral management in the perioperative ward | 47.9 | 64.6 | 0.100 | 33.0 | 73.8 | < 0.000 | 0.078 | 0.247 |
 Denture cleaning | 62.5 | 62.5 | 1.000 | 41.7 | 74.8 | < 0.000 | 0.017 | 0.123 |
 Domiciliary dental care | 52.1 | 60.4 | 0.411 | 46.6 | 57.3 | 0.125 | 0.530 | 0.716 |
 Other | 2.1 | 10.4 | 0.092 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.000 | 0.954 | 0.021 |