Dental Students’ Opinions of Preparation Assessment with E4D Compare Software Versus Traditional Methods

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate dental students' opinions regarding the utilization of a new grading software program for student self-assessment and a faculty-grading tool in a preclinical course. Using surface mapping technology, this program, called E4D Compare, yields a digital model of a student's preparation that is color-coded to show deicient areas. The program has now been used for two years at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, and the students previously assessed with E4D Compare have now entered into the dental clinics. For this study, students were asked to complete an anonymous survey for the investigators to evaluate students' attitudes and opinions on the effectiveness of this software in their preclinical courses to determine if this type of feedback helped them develop clinical skills. The survey also sought to collect students' opinions on the traditional objective criteria-based grading system. The survey was distributed to all members of the Classes of 2014 and 2015; it yielded a 59 percent response rate for the two classes, with a total of eighty-one students responding. Overall, the majority of students preferred the E4D Compare grading system over traditional hand-grading methods. The grading system provided instant, objective, and visual feedback that allowed students to easily see where their deiciencies were and encouraged them to work towards an ideal inal product.

Undergraduate dental students’ perspective on the implementation of digital dentistry in the preclinical curriculum: a questionnaire survey

“…Furthermore, students' awareness for tooth structure loss can be increased by using three-dimensional imaging of their own preparations and by superimposition of the images on the original tooth in the CAL software for the self-assessment process. This is especially important, as studies have shown that self-assessment increases the motivation to learn and supports lifelong learning [5,12].…”

“…However, studies regarding the traditional evaluation of preparations according to the glance-and-grade principle have reported a low interrater (between different examiners) and intrarater (one examiner at different times) reliability [5,13,14]. Furthermore, students request an immediate feedback with objective assessment criteria and suggestions for improvement [12,15]. Due to different staff member opinions, work experiences, and evaluation standards as well as lack of time, it is often difficult to provide immediate feedback for each student in everyday teaching.…”

“…Due to different staff member opinions, work experiences, and evaluation standards as well as lack of time, it is often difficult to provide immediate feedback for each student in everyday teaching. This may entail a lack of objectivity and disagreement between students and staff members [5,12]. Renne et al reported that students often perceive assessments as subjective and arbitrary [16].…”

Simulation training for ceramic crown preparation in the dental setting using a virtual educational system

“…The RDTES is similar to the DentSim system (Image Navigation), which is a pre‐clinical simulator that provides real‐time images processing with the use of three‐dimensional graphics and VRS . However, the RDTES has lower cost and was more compatible with our current educational system compared with DentSim system.…”

Effect of advanced simulation training with digital feedback on dental faculty’s competency in tooth preparation: A pre-post design

“…It has been demonstrated that the use of digital evaluation systems in preclinical curriculum can assess students' performance more accurately and objectively, by precluding the variability and subjectivity inherent in the traditional visual inspection grading by faculty [9][10][11]. In addition, the digital evaluation system can directly show the discrepancies between the student's preparation and the standard preparation through visual sections in desired planes, which effectively improves the student's preclinical achievement by providing more explicit visual feedback than the traditional verbal instruction by faculty [12]. Owing to these advantages, the application of digital evaluation systems in preclinical training has been shown to effectively facilitate learning and enhance the tooth preparation compentency of dental students [13][14][15][16], and it seems to be a promising alternative to the traditional evaluation method in the preclinical course.…”