ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Oral Health

Sec. Preventive Dentistry

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1603267

Essential Qualities for Dental Practice: Dental Students' Perspectives in Hong Kong

Provisionally accepted
Jasmine  Cheuk Ying HoJasmine Cheuk Ying Ho1Hollis  Haotian ChaiHollis Haotian Chai1Guofang  SunGuofang Sun1Michelle  Zeping HuangMichelle Zeping Huang1,2Edward  CM LoEdward CM Lo1Chun Hung  ChuChun Hung Chu1*
  • 1The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 2Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: The objective of this quantitative study is to explore the perspectives of dental students in Hong Kong regarding the key qualities that define a good dentist and a successful dentist.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to Hong Kong dental students in 2024 using an anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire basically consisted of four self-administered questions. The first two questions examined the qualities that dental students associate with "a successful dentist" and "a good dentist," respectively. The third question focused on the qualities expected of their dentist, and the fourth question investigated the qualities that dental school training should emphasize. For each question, respondents were requested indicate three key or most essential qualities. They could write down or choose the qualities provided in the list with 24 qualities.Results: All 452 students in the dental school were invited and 399 students (88%) completed the survey. 'Clinically competent' and 'Good communication skills' and 'Responsible /accountable' emerged as the top three qualities across the first three questions. They identified 'Clinically competent', 'Good communication skills' and 'knowledgeable' are three key qualities to be cultivated during training in dental school.Conclusions: Hong Kong dental students consider clinically competent, good communication skills, and being responsible / accountable are the key qualities for both good and successful dentists. These are also the key qualities they expected from their own dentist. Additionally, they emphasize the importance for dental schools to provide training that fosters clinical expertise, communication proficiency, and comprehensive knowledge to ensure graduates can deliver high-quality patient care.Significance: This survey offers important insights into the key qualities that dental students in Hong Kong believe are important for being a good and successful dentist. These findings can guide dental education to better prepare future professionals. Understanding these perspectives can help align educational goals with professional expectations, improving patient care and job satisfaction.

Keywords: Students' perspective1, Qualities of good dentists2, Qualities of Successful dentist3, Key qualities for dental practice4, Dentist's attributes5

Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Ho, Chai, Sun, Huang, Lo and Chu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Chun Hung Chu, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, SAR China

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