Dental students must communicate empathetically by paying attention to local cultural values. This article investigates the
relationship between studying local culture and interest in developing sympathetic communication. This study uses a
qualitative method. Ninety-six dental students were selected as respondents. Primary data comes from student responses and
screenshots of learning materials collected through online questionnaires. The results showed that there had been an increase
in the knowledge of dental students to develop sympathetic communication by paying attention to the values of local cultural
wisdom. Students' responses to learning local culture are divided into three groups: (a) respondents who think that professional
dentists must have cultural intelligence in building communication; (b) respondents who think that cultural knowledge is
relevant to the social field; and (c) respondents who stated that cultural intelligence could be correlated with various aspects
of life. This study provides a basis for designing similar curricula in other universities.
Keywords: Communication, etiquette, humanist dentist, learning, local culture.