Purpose: The social distancing mandates instituted during COVID-19 pandemic mark the sudden transition in the mode of dental education’s delivery to the virtual instruction. It is vital to assess students’ perceptions towards virtual learning environments, particularly among those gaining education in resource-strained countries. This cross-sectional study aims to assess the perceptions of dental undergraduates towards online education, environment and transferable skills and patient care during COVID-19 in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Materials and Methods: Dental preclinical and clinical undergraduate students from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka were recruited from November 2020 to March 2021 through a 47-item web-based survey consisting of psychometrically valid subscales of Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) and Transferable Skills Questionnaire. The mean scores of students’ perceptions of learning, environment, and patient care skills were compared among preclinical and clinical students of the participating countries. Results: Of total 930 participants, 44.4% were from India, 26.1% from Sri Lanka and 29.5% responses from Nepal. Sri Lanka reported the highest mean scores across all domains of perception indicative of positive attitude. Clinical students from all participating countries had statistically significantly higher positive perception of transferable skills in patient care as opposed to their preclinical counterparts. On the contrary, perception towards learning was higher among preclinical students as opposed to clinical students. These differences were statistically significant for Nepal and Sri Lanka. Conclusion: The findings of this study underscore the need to develop and implement effective online dental educational interventions to foster academic growth and essential practical skills without compromising academic rigor and continuity in the dental education curriculum.

Adherence to the dental practice regulatory guidelines instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to minimize the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 strains. Given the lack of a valid and reliable survey tool to assess the adherence to dental practice guidelines, this study aims to develop, validate, and test a survey tool on a pilot sample of dental clinicians practicing in India. A survey tool was developed/validated through a sequential phasic approach: Phase I- developing survey using conceptual and literature framework; Phase II: ascertaining its validity and reliability; Phase III: pilot testing; and Phase IV: assessing construct validity by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on the responses collected in Spring 2021. The EFA was achieved using a traditional unweighted least squares extraction method through a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. A six-factor solution with 18 items (with the global reliability of 86%) related to screening, regular infection prevention measures, infection control inside the dental operatory, disinfection of the dental unit, disposal, and other COVID-19-specific preventive measures were extracted. Our sample had higher compliance with regard to providing alcohol-based hand scrubs, providing protective gear to attendees, collecting travel/medical history, and screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms. In contrast, less compliance was observed regarding the use of paperless forms of practice and rubber dams in the operatory. The use of a validated survey tool ensures the collection of reliable and valid data, which can serve as baseline data to measure the uptake and effectiveness of dental practice regulatory guidelines in a clinical setting and community dental health clinics.

This study investigates the impact of perceived familial gender discrimination (PFGD) and entrapment on the mental health of emerging female adults in India. The sample comprised 568 unmarried and unemployed female college students aged 18 years and above belonging to the upper- and lower-middle class socioeconomic status, selected using purposive sampling. The research utilized the Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Status Scale, Gender Discrimination by Parents’ Behaviours subscale, and Entrapment Short Form Scale to measure the variables. The results indicate a significant positive relationship between PFGD and entrapment (r = 0.653, p < 0.01), suggesting that higher levels of perceived discrimination are associated with increased feelings of entrapment. The regression analysis revealed that PFGD significantly predicts entrapment , accounting for 42.6% of the variance (F (1418) = 419.855, p < 0.05). This finding highlights the profound impact of familial gender discrimination on the psychological well-being of young women, leading to a heightened sense of entrapment. The study underscores the importance of addressing gender discrimination within families to improve the mental health outcomes of emerging female adults. Future research should explore the intersectionality of gender discrimination with other forms of discrimination and examine its long-term effects on mental health across diverse demographic groups. Implications related to the roles of community, media and educational institutions, as well as the judiciary system and mental health professionals have also been discussed, highlighting the adverse consequences of gender discrimination in domestic settings on a young female’s mental health.