A pilot study: pledge your teeth! The willingness of dental students to donate their teeth

Hayati  Ishak; Noorharliana  Mohamed Zohdi; Masyitah  Mohd Zairi; Sajidah  Zaharudin

doi:10.31436/ijohs.v1i2.20

Authors

Hayati Ishak Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sg Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Noorharliana Mohamed Zohdi Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sg Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Masyitah Mohd Zairi Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sg Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Sajidah Zaharudin Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Jalan Hospital, 47000 Sg Buloh, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31436/ijohs.v1i2.20

Keywords:

teeth donation, preclinical training, Malaysia, dental students

Abstract

Extracted human teeth is the preferred choice for preclinical training as it simulates the clinical scenario as compared to artificial teeth. However, the increase in the number of dental undergraduates might cause an imbalance in the demand and supply of extracted human teeth. Not only that, extracted human teeth are also needed by researchers for the development of dentistry (e.g. dental pulp stem cells research). This study aimed to evaluate the socio-demographic and preclinical training factors associated with the willingness to donate teeth among dental students of a selected university in Malaysia. The results of this
study show that the majority of students were willing to donate their teeth after extraction for educational purposes, followed by keeping their tooth, leaving it behind as clinical waste and
donating it to research. Further research is recommended to determine the willingness of the community or public to donate their teeth to meet the demand for dental schools and researchers in Malaysia.

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