A Survey of Left Handed Dental Students and Interns

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to survey left-handed (LH) dental students and interns concerning whether they face any problems in their dental education or in their practice of dentistry.

Methods: The questionnaires were distributed in four dental colleges in different regions in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was composed of 16 questions to assess the following issues: demographic information, difficulties in dental school or dental practice due to left handedness, preferred hand in performing different dental procedures, and musculoskeletal complications.

Results: The study found that the percentage of LH dental students was around 7% (110 out of 1660). More than half of the participants (n=56) reported that being LH is not a problem in general, while when performing the required dental work, around 51% (n=56) agreed to have a problem. The majority (68%; n=75) reported that they had a problem with having RH instructors and 84.5% (n=93) responded that their institution is not properly equipped to accommodate LH students. Only 34% (n=37) agreed that using facilities of a RH dentist may cause musculoskeletal complications to a LH dentist.

Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the percentage of LH students is around 7% and that dental schools should provide LH students with appropriate equipment and a proper learning environment.