In education, one of the core competencies is the capacity to locate, appraise, and integrate information—an aspect that holds particular importance in dental training. This study aimed to evaluate how dental students in Malaysia and Finland access scientific data and to compare their proficiency in information retrieval. Senior dental students (fourth and fifth years) from both Malaysia and Finland were invited to take part in the research. Data were collected through a structured, self-administered questionnaire that included questions about information source preferences, self-assessment of literature search abilities, and related knowledge.
A total of 226 respondents participated: 131 from Malaysia and 95 from Finland. Among students in both regions, oral surgery emerged as the specialty with the highest enthusiasm for information gathering. The three most frequently used information sources among Malaysian students were personal lecture notes, textbooks, and peers; while Finnish students relied primarily on colleagues, lecture notes, and national clinical guidelines. Knowledge regarding evidence-based practice was insufficient among both groups. Although most participants considered their literature search ability as fair to good, a higher percentage of Finnish students rated themselves as having good skills compared with Malaysian participants. While dental curricula in both nations include courses on information retrieval and compulsory research projects, the students seldom relied on the sources essential for evidence-based dentistry. Academic institutions should enhance training programs that encourage students to make more efficient use of reliable knowledge sources and to develop stronger skills in appraising scientific literature.
