Dental Students Report Improved Facilities in 2025

A repeated cross-sectional study conducted at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University – Sofia, found that third-year dental students in both Bulgarian- and English-language programmes rated the material and technical conditions of their education significantly more favourably in 2025 than they did in 2023. The research, published in BMC Medical Education, focused specifically on the educational components of operative dentistry and endodontics.

The study design utilized a voluntary questionnaire approach, ensuring that participation did not require direct personal identifiers. To maintain privacy, the collection of email addresses was disabled during the data gathering process. The samples included 47 students from the Bulgarian-language programme and 21 from the English-language programme in 2023. By 2025, the sample sizes had increased to 55 students in the Bulgarian-language track and 23 in the English-language track.

The analytical framework of the study involved eleven identically worded items that were presented to the students in both years. The responses were recorded using five-category ordinal ratings, which were then compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. For dichotomous responses, the researchers employed Pearson’s chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, depending on the data distribution. To account for the multiple comparisons performed across the various items, a Holm adjustment was applied to the twenty-two statistical tests, with an adjusted p-value of less than 0.05 denoting statistical significance.

The most notable findings from the study related to the students’ perceptions of the material and technical facilities available to them. Among the students in the Bulgarian-language programme, the percentage of positive ratings for these facilities increased substantially from 34.0% in 2023 to 80.0% in 2025. This shift was statistically significant, with a Holm-adjusted p-value of less than 0.001 and a rank-biserial correlation of 0.660, indicating a strong association between the year of study and the positive evaluation of the facilities.

Similar trends were observed among the students enrolled in the English-language programme. The proportion of students who rated the material and technical facilities positively rose from 23.8% in 2023 to 78.3% in 2025. This increase was also statistically significant, with a Holm-adjusted p-value of 0.002 and a rank-biserial correlation of 0.654.

Beyond the general technical facilities, the study also examined the provision of specific materials and instruments used in operative dentistry and endodontics. In the Bulgarian-language programme, positive ratings for the provision of these items increased from 31.9% in 2023 to 69.1% in 2025. This change was statistically significant, with a Holm-adjusted p-value of less than 0.001 and a rank-biserial correlation of 0.455.

The English-language programme showed a comparable improvement in the provision of materials and instruments. Positive ratings increased from 19.0% in 2023 to 65.2% in 2025, a difference that was statistically significant with a Holm-adjusted p-value of 0.006 and a rank-biserial correlation of 0.617. These findings reinforce the observation that the material conditions of the education improved across both groups. However, the study noted that no other differences in student evaluations remained statistically significant after the Holm adjustment.

The authors concluded that students in both language programmes rated the material and technical conditions significantly more favourably in 2025 than in 2023. These findings may inform continued institutional monitoring of material provision and other components of the educational process.

Subject of Research: Comparative evaluation of dental education facilities in 2023 and 2025

Article Title: Comparative evaluation of operative dentistry and endodontics education by third-year dental students in 2023 and 2025: a repeated cross-sectional study

Article References: Yantcheva, S., Stanev, E., Kosturkov, D., & Karayasheva, D. (2026). Comparative evaluation of operative dentistry and endodontics education by third-year dental students in 2023 and 2025: a repeated cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10694-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10694-w

Keywords: dental education, operative dentistry, endodontics, student evaluation, cross-sectional study, medical university, educational facilities, Bulgaria, Comparative, evaluation, operative, dentistry