Mevlüde YÜCE POLAT, Mahmut TANKUŞ, Başak AKDAĞ
Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine - 2026;9(3):700-707
Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-perceived dental aesthetics and self-esteem and psychosocial status among dental students, and to evaluate whether these associations differed across academic years. Methods: A total of 312 dental faculty students were included in the study using the convenience sampling method and were divided into five groups according to their academic year. The participants were administered the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Aesthetic Component (AC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN), and a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Results: As a result of the study, no statistically significant differences were found among the academic years in terms of self-esteem, AC, VAS, and PIDAQ scores (p>0.05). However, descriptively, first-year students showed the lowest mean scores for dental self-confidence, aesthetic concern, psychological impact, total PIDAQ, and self-esteem. In contrast, the aesthetic concern and dental self-confidence subscales were highest, whereas the social impact subscale was lowest among fifth-year students. Conclusion: In our study, although differences in theoretical knowledge and clinical exposure are expected across academic years, students' self-perceived dental aesthetics and associated psychosocial responses were observed to remain largely stable. These findings suggest that such perceptions may be more strongly associated with individual characteristics than with academic level. Therefore, in order to better evaluate the role of academic year from a statistical perspective, future studies should re-administer the same measurement scales to the same sample groups as they progress through their education and analyze the responses comparatively with those obtained in previous years.
