A cross-sectional assessment of clinical photography knowledge among dental students in Malaysia

Dental photography is gaining popularity in contemporary dentistry, but its knowledge was unregulated in most dental schools' curriculum. The study aims to evaluate the level of photography practice and knowledge among dental students in Malaysia, acting as a baseline to include dental photography as a subject in the current curriculum. A series of questions were designed and validated by experts with a content validity index of 0.84. Questionnaires were distributed to the dental students with varied years of clinical experience. The level of knowledge was categorised into poor, weak, subpar, average, good and excellent. The common photography practice and courses attended were also tabulated. Among the 344 respondents, the most commonly used equipment was phone cameras (70.66%), whereas only 16.09% used digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. The majority of dental students did not attend any photography-related courses (69.48%). Based on the level of photography knowledge, dental students mostly scored 'subpar' (25.84%), with no statistically significant differences between the years of clinical experience (p = 0.236). Therefore, proper and comprehensive dental photography courses should be imparted in the current curriculum to improve students' skills and knowledge.