Jaws of knowledge: an analysis of temporomandibular joint insights in dental training-a quasi-experiment study.

OBJECTIVES: To access the knowledge of undergraduate and postgraduate students of the dental college on basic anatomy, physiology, clinical examination, and pathology of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 610 undergraduate and postgraduate students of dental college, were included in this study. The questionnaire was pretested for validation and distributed online through Google forms.

RESULTS: A pairwise comparison showed that the percentage of correct answers for interns significantly differed from that of IV Bachelor of Dental Surgery (P=0.050) and postgraduate students (P=0.048) (below average: up to 6 correct answers, good: 7-11 correct answers, excellent: 12 or more correct answers).

CONCLUSION: TMJ diseases are common in daily life but frequently go undiagnosed and untreated due to a lack of clinical expertise. This demonstrates the necessity of providing instructions that give students in-depth knowledge and abilities for TMJ issues in clinical practice.