ReviewCureus2025
Imposter Syndrome in Dentistry: Prevalence, Contributing Factors, and Educational Implications: A Narrative Review.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon characterized by persistent self-doubt and fear of being exposed as incompetent despite objective evidence of ability and achievement. Although it has been widely studied across health professions education, its presence and implications within dental education have received comparatively less focused attention. The demanding nature of dental training, marked by early clinical exposure, technical precision, and continuous evaluation, may place dental learners at increased risk of developing imposter feelings. This narrative review synthesizes existing literature published between 2000 and 2025 examining imposter syndrome in dentistry and related health professions education, with a focus on prevalence, psychological determinants, educational and environmental contributors, and associated consequences. The reviewed literature indicates that imposter syndrome is common among dental students and healthcare trainees and is strongly associated with perfectionism, fear of failure, low self-esteem, and heightened academic and clinical stress. Educational factors such as competitive learning environments, inconsistent feedback, and high-stakes clinical assessments further exacerbate imposter experiences. These factors have been linked to reduced self-confidence, avoidance of complex clinical tasks, psychological distress, and challenges in professional identity formation. Imposter syndrome represents a significant but often underrecognized challenge in dental education, with implications extending beyond emotional discomfort to influence learning behaviors, clinical engagement, and overall well-being. Addressing this phenomenon requires increased institutional awareness, supportive educational environments, and structured mentorship strategies, while future research should prioritize longitudinal outcomes and the development of targeted interventions to support dental learners throughout their training.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.