Perception of dental medicine students on dental tourism

Introduction
Dental tourism is the fastest growing form of medical tourism. In Europe, it represents 50% of activities in medical tourism. Many dentists in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia decide to engage in dental tourism.

Objectives
The aim of this research was to collect and analyze data on dental students’ perception of this phenomenon in these three countries.

Material and methods
The study was conducted online in the form of an anonymous 20-question survey questionnaire. In total, 326 students participated in the survey. Data was processed using Microsoft Excel 2010 (MS Office, 2010) and Statistica (Tibco, v. 13.5.0.17, 2018) programs. Correlation coefficients were calculated by using Spearman rank test

Results
The results showed that the majority of students had a positive opinion about dental tourism and that they perceived it as a profitable activity that positively affects the quality of dental work in their countries. Almost half of the students were not aware of problematic ethical aspects of dental tourism. Despite the current poor prospects due to the decline in dental tourism due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a significant proportion of students still have plans to engage in dental tourism in the future.

Conclusions
The results showed that dental students perceived dental tourism as a positive phenomenon. Most of them said that dental tourism was a desirable career choice. Furthermore, it showed that dental students need better and more comprehensive education on ethical issues related to dental tourism.