Perception, awareness, and attitude toward digital dentistry among pre-dental students: an observational survey

Abstract

Background Pre-dental students’ perception and awareness about current technology in dentistry can influence their motivation and maturity during the learning experience and affect their dental education outcome. This observational survey aimed to examine pre-dental student's cognitive and behavioral traits as perception measures toward digital dentistry. The survey covered areas that the authors believed to impact dental education and future investments in institutional decision making. The survey was distributed over all pre-dental students representing two US dental schools in the state of Kentucky. The survey included four main categories: (1) career vision, (2) perception of digital dentistry, (3) prior knowledge of digital dentistry, and (4) personal intelligence. Results The feedback was positive toward the future use of digital dentistry. The findings are discussed in light of the implications of pre-dental students' perception to support teaching and learning in dental education. Conclusions Despite the expected enthusiasm of pre-dental students toward digital technology, the results highlight the need to emphasize structured self-learning, self-evaluation, and a deeper understanding of research within the dental curricula.

Modular Digital and 3D-Printed Dental Models with Applicability in Dental Education

“…Furthermore, the responses collected from the survey of third- and fourth-year dental students in our faculty indicate that the proposed method (the combined use of modular digital and 3D-printed dental models in university dental training) received good feedback from the participants in the survey. The findings of our survey were consistent with those of other studies found in the dental literature [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ]. However, to our knowledge, few scientific studies have been dedicated to topics related to the influence of students’ age or academic year on their perception of the use of digital dentistry and technological advancement such as 3D-printing in dental education.…”

“…As other authors have already pointed out [ 65 , 79 ] it is debatable whether digital learning methods improve dental students’ skills. Despite the noticeable, evident enthusiasm of the undergraduate dental students toward digital technology that was highlighted in this paper, structured self-learning and self-evaluation of students represent important issues for further development of dental curricula, as other authors have indicated [ 68 ]. On the other hand, implementation of dental technology in university dental education could face diverse barriers such as limited resources, funds, time and availability of teaching staff [ 67 ].…”

Perception of Remote Learning by Fixed Prosthodontic Students at a Romanian Faculty of Dentistry

“…When it comes to the positive sides of online teaching and learning, students have appreciated the flexibility, the ease of use and the potential for innovation. This shows that the introduction of new technologies and digital tools was not, by any means, a problem, but something that students embraced with lightness although it required some effort on their part as shown in our research and reported in different other studies [ 11 , 12 , 36 , 52 , 54 , 55 ].…”

“…However, the authors consider that sharing experience is important and each university can consistently contribute to a new and improved teaching/learning paradigm. Student feedback is a valuable instrument in shaping curriculum and this is why their perspective and acceptance of the encountered transformations during the pandemic period have been previously reported in many studies [ 11 , 12 , 25 , 28 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 47 , 55 ]. Future research should be performed so as to also involve the teaching staff, to reconcile both views regarding the educational process.…”

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

“…Students’ answers reported high levels of satisfaction with the new self-assessment method. 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 ].…”