Oral Health Educators’ Perceptions of Student-to-Student Administration of Local Anaesthesia

Background: The pedagogical method for administration of local anaesthesia in most dental schools requires the students to act as surrogate patients. This experiential method of learning allows students to prepare themselves prior to administering local anaesthesia to genuine patients. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the oral health educators’ perceptions of student-to-student administration of local anaesthesia as a pedagogical method. Materials and methods: An electronic survey of 18 statements using a five-point Likert Scale was used to obtain data on the oral health educators’ perceptions. In addition, the participants were allowed to comment on each statement. The quantitative data was subject to simple descriptive statistical analysis and the qualitative data was subjected to thematic analysis. Results: A total of 36 Oral Health Educators responded to the survey. Oral health educators are mostly in support of the student-to-student administration of local anaesthesia, with 30 (83%) participants either agreeing or strongly agreeing that the benefits of this experiential learning strategy outweigh the risks. On the contrary, 12 (33%) participants either agreed or strongly agreed that the possibility of adverse effects does not justify using the student-to- student model for local anaesthesia education. Conclusion: Oral health educators are mostly in support of the student-to-student administration of local anaesthesia as a pedagogical strategy. A relatively small number of the educators are not supporters of this method of experiential learning