Comparison of Effectiveness of Two Teaching Methods on Acquisition of Skills in Preclinical Fixed Prosthodontics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dental faculty‐student interactions, virtual assessment software, and associated rubrics on student performance by assessing tooth preparations generated during the students' final practical exam. The study, conducted in 2017 and 2018, compared teeth prepared for preclinical fixed prosthodontics competency exams by two subsequent classes of second‐year dental students trained using different methods. Class A was trained for nine months prior to the exam using feedback via student‐faculty interactions and conventional rubrics. Class B was trained for five and half months prior to the exam via contemporary rubrics that incorporated feedback from both faculty and virtual assessment software. Two blinded, independent, and calibrated faculty members randomly evaluated the tooth preparations and graded them as excellent, standard, or standard not met for occlusal reduction, axial/lingual reduction, contour/long axis/axial wall height, finish line location, finish line quality, and finish of the preparation. The interrater agreement was slight to fair (0.01 < Kappa < 0.4) for evaluation of preparations. The teaching method did not have a significant impact (p>0.05) on student performance for the assessed criteria. These results suggest that, with the use of virtual assessment software, a course director may be able to shorten a course and obtain the same results as a nine‐month course.

Effect of the haptic 3D virtual reality dental training simulator on assessment of tooth preparation

“…Additionally, some studies have reported usefulness of the digital educational device from standpoints of objective assessment. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 Thus, the digital simulator would hold the promise of its great potential in dental education, however, it has not yet been widespread in dental schools in the world. 1 Majority is still the conventional simulator training, in which trainees cut artificial teeth attached on phantom head and teachers perform visual inspection to make assessment and instruction.…”

A Novel Self-Assessment Method for Training Access Cavity on 3D Printed Endodontic Models

“…This high approval rating might be due not only to the immediacy of the visual feedback, but also to the generally enthusiastic attitude of dental students towards digital dentistry [ 53 ]. Commercial digital evaluation systems, such as PrepCheck ® (Dentsply Sirona©, Bensheim, Germany), Dental Teacher™ (KaVo©, Biberach, Germany) and Compare© (Planmeca©, Helsinki, Finland), that report feedback on students’ prosthetic preparations through a comparison with reference preparation scans are already available [ 54 , 55 , 56 ]. To the best of our knowledge, only one other study used IOS as a learning tool for students in endodontic preclinical training.…”

Two critical thinking models—probing questions and conceptualization—adding 4 skillsets to the teacher's armamentarium

“…Different approaches to acquisition of procedural skills call on assessment after the procedure is completed rather than assessing the student's ability to conceptualize the procedural outcome before beginning. 27,28 Clinical textbooks show extensive patient treatments, 29,30 but specifics on conceptualizing the procedural outcome and the path to that outcome are minimal. A remaining question is the extent to which the student's grasp of the procedural outcome improves their performance on reaching that outcome.…”