Abstract Sustained motivation to achieve goals is one of the important factors for dental residents to complete their clinical training in dentistry within a specified period. However, the influence of self-evaluation on the motivation of dental residents is not clear. Therefore, using the results of rubrics administered at the end of the three years of dental training, we examined the influence of the frequency of self-evaluation by dental residents on their motivation. A total of 71 trainee dentists who underwent one year of clinical training in the clinical training program for dentists at Nagasaki University Hospital in 2019, 2021, and 2022 were included. To evaluate the achievement of the goals of dental residents set by the supervising dentists and dental residents at the beginning of training, self-evaluations were conducted periodically using a common rubric created by the supervising dentists and an individual rubric created by each dental resident. In 2019 and 2021, self-assessments were conducted three or four times a year, and in 2022, monthly. In addition, rubrics on goal setting, self-evaluation, and motivation were administered at the end of the training. The results showed that in 2022, when monthly self-evaluations were conducted, all the items in the rubrics were rated higher than in the other two years. In particular, “I could understand how to proceed with goal evaluation” and “I could maintain my motivation” showed statistically significant improvement in 2022 compared to 2019. The results suggest that monthly self-assessment by dentists in the clinical training program using a rubric to understand their training status is effective in sustaining their motivation in training.