Dry Skulls and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) for Teaching Orofacial Bone Anatomy to Undergraduate Dental Students

Abstract

Learning bone anatomy of the skull is a complex topic involving three‐dimensional information. The impact of the use of human dry skulls and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging was investigated in the teaching of undergraduate dental students. Sixty‐four first‐year students in the University of Hong Kong were randomly divided into eight groups. Four teaching methods were tested: (1) CBCT followed by standard lecture, (2) CBCT followed by lecture with skulls, (3) standard lecture followed by CBCT, and (4) lecture with skulls followed by CBCT. After each, students were given a multiple‐choice questionnaire to assess their objective learning outcome (20 questions) and a questionnaire for their subjective satisfaction (10 statements). Surveys were assessed with Cronbach's alpha, Kendall's tau‐b, and principal components analysis. Data were analyzed with Student's t‐test and a one‐way ANOVA (significance α = 0.05). Standard lecture followed by CBCT showed the highest learning outcome score (81.6% ± 14.1%), but no significant difference was present among four teaching methods. Cone beam computed tomography followed by lecture with skulls scored the highest overall subjective satisfaction (4.9 ± 0.8 out of 6), but no significant difference was present among teaching methods. Nevertheless, students' perception of learning was positively influenced by the use of skulls (P = 0.018). The timing of administration of the CBCT did not affect students' subjective satisfaction or objective learning outcome. Students perceived to learn more by using skulls, but their objective learning outcomes were not significantly affected. A discrepancy seems to exist between students' perception of learning and their effective performance.

Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) Technology and Learning Outcomes in Dental Anatomy Education: E‐Learning Approach

“…It also corresponded in full to the syllabus of the dental anatomy unit. The learning outcomes were analyzed according to the literature (Zahra and Dunton, 2017;de Azevedo et al, 2018;Kulasegaram and Rangachari, 2018;Savoldi et al, 2021), allowing statistical differences (P < 0.001) between the methods. The T2 showed that the higher learning outcome, in theoretical (75.12% ±6.15) and spatial orientation (68.75% The data analysis was performed on the T1 cohort (face-to-face lecture with physical model) and T2 cohort (webinar lecture with CBCT image) using learning outcomes in the theoretical and spatial orientation contexts.…”

The Human Bone Collection of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong: History and description of cranial and postcranial skeletal remains

“…The Collection is comprised of 368 individuals, including cranial remains of 260 individuals and postcranial remains of 248 individuals (Table 1, Figure 4(a)) (Savoldi et al, 2021). Note that not all the cranial remains have the corresponding postcranial remains and vice versa.…”

“…Lastly, alterations of the morphology of ear ossicles can be associated with congenital anomalies (Caparosa & Klassen, 1966) and syndromes (Black et al, 1975), or can be relevant for understanding the history of disease such as otitis media (Quam & Rak, 2008). Future research may also include morphological assessments using maxillofacial imaging of neurovascular foramina (von Arx et al, 2013), and investigation of new methods for the teaching of bone anatomy of the head (Savoldi, Yeung, et al, 2021).…”

“…Further studies investigated the biological relationship and origin of aboriginal groups of Taiwan (Pietrusewsky & Chang, 2003) and Japan (Brace et al, 1989). In addition, it contributed to teaching experiments on the use of 3D imaging in dental education (Savoldi, Yeung, et al, 2021).…”

“…Human skeletal remains can contribute to research (Schmidt‐Schultz & Schultz, 2004) and education (Savoldi, Yeung, et al, 2021). For the interest of anthropologists and paleoanthropologists, human remains can help to identify distinctive traits of a population (Brace et al, 1993), and study morphological affinities between people of different areas for exploring possible biological or historical connections between human groups (Pietrusewsky, 2010).…”