Knowledge and Use of Caries Detection Methods among Dental Students and Dental Practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Table 7

Comparison of the knowledge and use of caries detection and caries risk assessment methods across levels of education.

	Student	Postgraduate resident	Intern	GP	Specialist	Consultant
	N = 118	N = 24	N = 266	N = 34	N = 40	N = 14
P	1.50ab (1.00; 2.29)	1.50a (1.33; 1.67)	1.17b (1.00; 2.00)	1.33ab (1.17; 1.96)	1.50a (1.17; 2.00)	1.67a (1.38; 2.21)	<0.001
A	3.17ab (2.83; 3.67)	3.27ab (2.67; 3.70)	3.33ab (2.67; 3.83)	3.00b (2.52; 3.33)	3.33ab (2.83; 3.50)	3.75a (3.33; 4.00)	0.031
K	3.50b (2.06; 4.00)	3.88b (2.88; 4.25)	2.62a (2.00; 3.50)	3.12ab (2.06; 3.75)	4.00b (2.94; 4.50)	4.00ab (2.12; 5.00)	<0.001

P, caries detection methods; A, caries risk assessment practices; K, knowledge regarding advanced caries diagnostic methods. Results were summarized using the median and interquartile range (IQR). Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Scores were calculated by averaging the responses that correspond to each factor.