A survey of left-handed dental students and interns in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this study was 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. The questionnaires were distributed in four dental colleges in different regions in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was comprised of sixteen 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. The study found that the percentage of LH dental students was around 7 percent (110 out of 1,660). More than half of these participants (n=56) reported that being LH is not a problem in general, while when performing the required dental work, around 51 percent (n=56) agreed to having a problem. The majority (68 percent; n=75) reported that they had a problem with having RH instructors, and 84.5 percent (n=93) responded that their institution is not properly equipped to accommodate LH students. Only 34 percent (n=37) agreed that using facilities of an RH dentist may cause musculoskeletal complications to an LH dentist. The results of this study suggest that dental schools should provide LH students with appropriate equipment and a proper learning environment.