Dental students’ attitudes toward community service: a pre–post survey study of a service-learning experience in Chile

Abstract

Abstract Background Dental Education has traditionally emphasized the technical and biological aspects of oral healthcare, often overlooking the social determinants of health. Service-Learning has emerged as a pedagogical strategy that blends community engagement with academic goals and has been associated with improved attitudes toward community service among health-professions students; however, evidence from Latin America, and from Dental Education in Chile in particular, remains scarce. This study assessed dental students’ attitudes toward community service before and after participation in Service-Learning activities. Methods A pre–post survey study was conducted between August and December 2025 among undergraduate dental students at a Chilean University who took part in community-based educational activities. Community service attitudes were measured using a Spanish adaptation of the Community Service Attitudes Scale (CSAS), a 10-subscale Likert-type instrument administered online three weeks before and three weeks after the intervention. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach’s α = 0.885 pre-test; 0.957 post-test). Of 162 students who completed the pre-test, 77 were matched to post-test responses and included in the analysis. Changes across the 10 subscales were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, and effect sizes were calculated as Hedges’ g. Results Most participants were female (64%) and had no prior community service experience (69%). Significant changes were observed in three subscales: norms increased from pre- to post-intervention (LS Mean 4.44 vs. 4.56; p = 0.035), empathy showed the largest change (3.18 vs. 4.34; p < 0.001), and perceived costs decreased (4.21 vs. 3.44; p < 0.001). The remaining seven subscales showed no significant change. Subgroup analyses showed that the reduction in perceived costs was significantly smaller among junior students than among intermediate and senior students ( p < 0.05). Conclusions Participation in Service-Learning was associated with improvements in empathy and social norms and with a reduction in perceived barriers to community engagement among dental students. These findings support the early incorporation of community-based experiences into the Dental Curriculum. This study adds evidence from a Latin American setting where such data are scarce, highlighting the global relevance of Service-Learning for developing socially responsible dental professionals.