Effectiveness of an environmental educational program on intern dentists' knowledge and practices regarding eco-friendly green dentistry: a quasi-experimental study

The dental industry is associated with significant environmental impacts so there is a growing need for eco-friendly practices in dentistry. This study aimed to assess dental interns' knowledge and practices regarding eco-friendly dentistry before and after the implementation of the environmental educational program. An interventional quasi-experimental study (one group pre-test-post-test design) was conducted on 69 intern dentists at the Faculty of Dentistry Alexandria University. Assessment of knowledge and practices related to eco-friendly dentistry was performed three times: before, after two months, and after four months of the educational program. The mean age of participants was 23.72 years; 56.5% were males; 89.9% hadn't received prior training on eco-friendly dentistry; and 40.6% obtained their green dentistry information from online websites. The educational program significantly improved their knowledge (median score percentage went from 50% before the intervention to 81.82% and 81.82% after two and four months of the conducting of the educational program, respectively.) and eco-friendly practices (median score percentage increased from 58.33% before the intervention to 75% and 66.67% after two and four months of the intervention, respectively) and the differences were statistically significant (p