Students as Partners in Dental Education: Comparing Co‐Designed, Co‐Delivered and Traditional Approaches to Mouthcare Training

ABSTRACT Aim To compare Students‐as‐Partners (SaP) and traditional (TRAD) approaches for teaching dental students to promote mouthcare for people with disabilities. Methods A two‐group, pre–post quasi‐experimental design was used to compare TRAD and SaP training. Both approaches included didactic and practical components; SaP was co‐designed and co‐delivered, incorporating synchronous and asynchronous elements. Self‐efficacy and intention scores (0–10) related to mouthcare provision were analysed. Descriptive statistics were calculated by training approach and time point. A between‐subjects factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined main effects of training approach, timepoint, and student group, and their interactions. Pre‐ and post‐training responses were analysed as independent observations. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results Data from 220 valid questionnaires were analysed. Across all outcomes, a significant main effect of timepoint was observed, with higher post‐training self‐efficacy and intention scores. No significant effects of training approach or interactions with timepoint were observed, indicating similar patterns across groups. Conclusions Both TRAD and SaP groups showed higher post‐training self‐efficacy and intention scores, with no statistically significant differences between approaches; however, this should not be interpreted as evidence of equivalence. These findings suggest that SaP may be implemented without compromising observed scores.