DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22122/johoe.v10i4.1223 Published by Vesnu Publications Received: 26 May 2021 Accepted: 05 Aug. 2021 1- Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey 2- Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey Address for correspondence: Zeynep Çoban Büyükbayraktar PhD; Assistant Professor, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey; Email: dtzeynepcoban@gmail.com http://johoe.kmu.ac.ir, 07 October 202 J Oral Health Oral Epidemiol/ Autumn 2021; Vol. 10, No. 4 Evaluation of knowledge, approaches, and self-efficacy perceptions of Turkish dental students about preventive and interceptive orthodontic applications in 2018-2019 Zeynep Çoban Büyükbayraktar PhD 1 , Cenk Doruk PhD 2 Abstract BACKGROUND AND AIM: Preventive orthodontics aids in the formation of normal occlusion. There have been numerous studies on this topic published in the literature. The purpose of this study was to assess final-year dental students' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy perceptions of preventive and interceptive orthodontic applications (PIOA). METHODS: Data were collected from 410 dental students from eight different faculties in this cross-sectional study using a predesigned and validated self-administered, structured questionnaire. SPSS software was used to analyze the data, which included descriptive statistics, the independent samples t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the Kuder- Ritchardson Formula 20 (KR-20) reliability coefficient. The statistical significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The vast majority of students (71.0%) did not believe that they were qualified to perform PIOA after graduation. With a rate of 80.5%, preventive treatment was chosen as the most important treatment type. The most correctly answered question, with a score of 92.4%, was about space maintainers. The total score was calculated to be 9.13 ± 2.73. There was a significant difference in total scores between men and women (P = 0.0340). There was a significant difference in total scores between those who thought and those who did not think that enough time had been allocated to theoretical education (P = 0.0001). The total score differed significantly from the responses to the question "Do you believe you have sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge about PIOA?" (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The women' knowledge level was higher than that of the men, and the students valued preventive measures. Experts should consider these findings when developing the core curriculum. KEYWORDS: Preventive Orthodontics; Interceptive Orthodontics; Curriculum; Dental Student; Knowledge Citation: Büyükbayraktar ZÇ, Doruk C. Evaluation of knowledge, approaches, and self-efficacy perceptions of Turkish dental students about preventive and interceptive orthodontic applications in 2018-2019. J Oral Health Oral Epidemiol 2021; 10(4): 202-8. alocclusion is a craniofacial disorder that affects the development of the gnathostomatic system of the teeth, jaw, and face. 1 Although malocclusion does not endanger general health, it is detrimental to oral health. 2 Preventive orthodontic treatments aid in the development of normal occlusion and the prevention of malocclusion. 3 When malocclusion develops, practices to ensure normal occlusion are referred to as interceptive orthodontic applications. 3 These applications are performed during the primary or early mixed dentition phase to shorten and lessen the severity of orthodontic treatments. 4 Thanks to these applications, skeletal malocclusions can be corrected at a young age, and the possibility of tooth extraction decreases even if orthodontic treatment will be needed in the future. At the same time, treatment time is shortened, and the risk of periodontal disease decreases with enamel decalcification after treatment. Besides, the parental satisfaction with treatment increases. 5 The main advantage of these applications is that they are more M This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Unported License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Original Article