Awareness and Knowledge of Dental Advertising Guidelines Among Recent Dental Graduates in Malaysia

Dental institutions often include advertising ethics as part of the undergraduate curriculum to instil professional standards. However, there is limited evidence on graduates' awareness and understanding of advertising guidelines in their subsequent practice.

To assess the awareness and knowledge of dental advertising guidelines among recent dental graduates in Malaysia and to compare the outcomes between those from public and private universities.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 involving recent dental graduates from eight Malaysian universities. A newly designed and validated questionnaire was used to assess awareness and knowledge across seven domains of dental advertising ethics, including online professionalism, product recommendations, and the promotion of clinic facilities and treatments. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare responses between graduates from public and private universities.

In total, 253 participating graduates completed the online questionnaire. Awareness among public university graduates was significantly higher than that of their private counterparts (p-value < 0.05). The mean knowledge score was 61.80%. The domain with the highest knowledge score was 'online professionalism' (71.30%), whereas the lowest-scoring domain was 'recommendation of specific products' (46.77%). Public university graduates scored significantly higher in the domains of 'description of clinic facilities' and 'advertisement of specific treatment' (p-value < 0.05).

Participants from public universities reported significantly higher awareness and performed better in specific domains related to dental advertising ethics. These findings highlight the importance of a standardised and comprehensive education on ethical advertising practices across all dental institutions.