Background and Aim: This study aimed to compare the microshear bond strength (µSBS) of two types of universal adhesives to primary dentin following self-etch (SE) and total-etch (TE) techniques. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 156 general dentists who graduated from the School of Dentistry, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, between 2020 and 2023. A standardized researcher-designed questionnaire, validated for reliability and validity, was used to assess graduates' clinical skills. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Friedman tests, as well as Spearman’s correlation coefficient (α=0.05). Results: The participants' mean age was 26.85 years, and the mean total clinical skills score was 3.05. Significant differences were observed among scores across domains (P<0.001). The highest scores were achieved in endodontics (3.30), followed by oral and maxillofacial surgery (3.21), pediatric dentistry (3.18), oral radiology (3.18), restorative dentistry (3.13), oral medicine (3.09), periodontology (3.01), prosthodontics (2.87), and orthodontics (2.36). All mean domain scores were above average. A significant difference in total scores was observed based on graduation year (P<0.001), with a significant positive correlation between total scores and age (P<0.001). Male graduates demonstrated significantly higher scores than female graduates in prosthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery (P<0.05). Conclusion: The mean self-assessed total clinical competence scores of graduates were above average across all domains, with endodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery scoring the highest, while orthodontics and prosthodontics scored the lowest. Age and gender were significant factors influencing clinical competence scores.
Shahsiah et al. (Wed,) studied this question.