Is manual dexterity essential in the selection of dental students?

Giuliani, Marco; Lajolo, Carlo; Clemente, Luís; Querqui, A.; Viotti, R.; Boari, A. de J.; Miani, C

doi:10.1038/bdj.2007.688

Cited by 57 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Other researchers have also experienced problems trying to relate other specific abilities to student performance. [2][3][4]6,10,17,21,22 Grades for the preclinical technical exercise assessed in the study (where students had to prepare cavity shapes in color-coded blocks) were not a comprehensive measure of interpretative ability because manual dexterity was a key determinant of performance in this task. Student clinical grades are also influenced by other subjective variables such as inconsistencies of assessors, variance in tasks required, patient difficulty, and patient management.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2,3,5,9,22 Rather than attempting to design another predictive test, the primary aim of this study was to establish whether dentists and dental students have problems with the interpretation of depth and distance. It is obvious that many did have significant problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,2 Consequently, there has been a strong focus on manual dexterity as a predictor for successful dental performance. [2][3][4][5][6] However, such research fails to recognize that competency within dentistry also requires good perceptual and visual skills, not only for gathering information, but more specifically for judging positions, distances, and the size of objects. 7,8 What is ignored by most predictive tests is that prospective dental students may have visual or interpretative defects that would make acquisition of manual skills and interpretation of instruction difficult.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Depth and Distance Perception of Dentists and Dental Students

Dimitrijevic¹,

Kahler²,

Evans³

et al. 2011

Operative Dentistry

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SUMMARYThe quality of work carried out by dentists is dependent, among other things, on experience, training, and manual dexterity. Historical focus on the latter as a predictor of dental performance has failed to recognize that dental competence also requires good perceptual and visual skills, not only for gathering information but also for judging positions, distances, and the size of objects and shapes. Most predictive tests ignore visual and interpretative deficiencies that could make individual acquisition of skills and interpretation of instructions difficult. Ability to estimate depth and distance, the manner in which students learn this ability, whether and how it can be taught, or whether there is an association among ability, stereopsis, and dental performance has not been thoroughly examined; nor has the perception that dental students fully understand verbal and written instruction relating to depth and distance. This study investigated the ability of dentists and dental students to estimate and reproduce small depths and distances and the relationship of this ability to stereopsis, dental experience, and student performance. A total of 163 undergraduate dental students from three year groups and 20 experienced dentists and specialists performed three tasks. A depth-perception task involved estimation of the depth of two sets (2-mm or 4-mm wide) of nine computer milled slots ranging in depth from 0.5 to 4.0 mm. A distance task involved estimation of the width of specially prepared printed square blocks. In a writing task, participants recorded distances across a printed line on separate sheets of paper. All tasks were conducted at set positions in custom-made transportable light boxes. Stereopsis and visual acuity were also measured. Ability to perform perceptual tasks varied enormously, with the level of accuracy dependent on the type of task and dental experience. Many students had considerable difficulty in estimating depth. Inexperienced students performed poorly. Most participants overestimated depth and distance estimation tasks, but underestimated when required to draw distances. Smaller depths and distances were easier to estimate than larger ones. All groups overestimated depth more in 4-mm-wide blocks than in 2-mm-wide blocks. There was no correlation found between depth and distance estimation and stereopsis scores or with the overall grades tested. This study highlights that some dentists and many dental students, particularly early in their course, have great difficulty in accurately gauging depths and distances. It is proposed that that this could impact significantly on a student's ability to interpret verbal and written preclinical instruction and could make the acquisition of manual skills and interpretation of clinical instruction difficult. Routine testing of all undergraduate dental students for perceptual and visual difficulties is recommended, so that those with difficulties can be identified and problems remedied, if possible, early in their course.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Depth and Distance Perception of Dentists and Dental Students

Dimitrijevic¹,

Kahler²,

Evans³

et al. 2011

Operative Dentistry

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“…They often require a high level of dexterity [62]. Because of their high level of technicality, beyond biomechanical aspects (related to the motion), technical gestures require a cognitive and psychic dimension [63][64][65].…”

Section: Respondent Conditioning: a Means For The Development Of Techmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Haptics to Promote Learning Outcomes in Serious Games

Ménélas

Benaoudia

2017

MTI

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Integration of haptics in Serious Games (SGs) remains limited compared to vision and audio. Many works seem to limit haptic interactions to the mimicking of real life feelings. Here, we address this by investigating the use of haptics to promote learning outcomes in serious games. By analyzing how we learn, we proposed a model that identifies three learning outcomes: (1) engage the user with the content of the game, (2) develop technical skills, and (3) develop cognitive skills. For each learning skill, we show how haptic interactions may be exploited. We also show that the proposed model may be used to describe and to evaluate existing methods. It may also help in the designing of new methods that take advantage of haptics to promote learning outcomes.

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Assessing likelihood of using the Bruininks–Oseretsky test of motor proficiency to predict preclinical performance of dental students

Musawi

Barrett

Nurrohman

et al. 2019

Clinical & Exp Dental Res

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ObjectiveThe acquisition of motor skills is a key competency for the practice of dentistry, and innate abilities have been shown to influence motor performance. Thus, finding the most efficient manual dexterity tests may predict performance of dental students. The current study used the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, to assess motor skills of first year (D1) and second year (D2) dental students.Materials and methodsThree fine motor subsets of the BOT‐2—fine motor precision, fine motor integration, and manual dexterity—were administered to D1 and D2 dental students in 2017 and 2018. The BOT‐2 subset scores of D1 students were compared with those of D2 students, who had preclinical dental experiences. For D2 students, we tested for correlations between BOT‐2 subset scores and performance scores in a preclinical operative dentistry course.ResultsNo differences were found between D1 and D2 students for any BOT‐2 subtest scores (all Ps > .09). No correlations were found between total scores of each BOT‐2 subtest and the operative dentistry course for D2 students (all Ps > .20).ConclusionsOur results suggested the BOT‐2 was not predictive of manual skills of dental applicants or preclinical dental students. Although we assumed students would perform well with instruction, practice, and feedback, we were unable to determine whether innate abilities influenced acquisition of manual dexterity skills. More research about the acquisition of technical clinical skills in dentistry is required.

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Is manual dexterity essential in the selection of dental students?

Cited by 57 publications

References 21 publications

Depth and Distance Perception of Dentists and Dental Students

Depth and Distance Perception of Dentists and Dental Students

Use of Haptics to Promote Learning Outcomes in Serious Games

Assessing likelihood of using the Bruininks–Oseretsky test of motor proficiency to predict preclinical performance of dental students

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