This research aimed to explore how dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Indonesia, perceive special care dentistry (SCD). A descriptive cross-sectional approach was applied through an online self-completed questionnaire distributed to all preclinical and clinical students. The instrument covered four areas: demographic details, understanding of SCD, attitudes toward treating individuals with special needs, and opinions on SCD education. Statistical evaluation was performed using chi-square and Mann–Whitney tests. A total of 572 participants completed the survey. Clinical students displayed higher familiarity with SCD than preclinical students (p = 0.008). The type of program showed significant associations with self-assessed competence in treating special-needs patients independently after graduation (p < 0.001), the ability to refer patients to appropriate specialists (p = 0.042), perceived necessity for postgraduate training (p < 0.001), and the willingness to pursue such programs (p = 0.004). The majority of respondents viewed SCD positively. Therefore, improving SCD teaching and hands-on exposure in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula is recommended to strengthen students’ preparedness to manage patients with special needs.
