Comparative effectiveness of hand scaling by undergraduate dental students following a two-week pre-clinical training course

A Sex-Specific Evaluation of Dental Students' Ability to Perform Subgingival Debridement: Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND

A successful periodontitis treatment demands good manual skills. A correlation between biological sex and dental students' manual dexterity is currently unknown.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines performance differences between male and female students within subgingival debridement.

METHODS

A total of 75 third-year dental students were divided by biological sex (male/female) and randomly assigned to one of two work methods (manual curettes n=38; power-driven instruments n=37). Students were trained on periodontitis models for 25 minutes daily over 10 days using the assigned manual or power-driven instrument. Practical training included subgingival debridement of all tooth types on phantom heads. Practical exams were performed after the training session (T1) and after 6 months (T2), and comprised subgingival debridement of four teeth within 20 minutes. The percentage of debrided root surface was assessed and statistically analyzed using a linear mixed-effects regression model (P<.05).

RESULTS

The analysis is based on 68 students (both groups n=34). The percentage of cleaned surfaces was not significantly different (P=.40) between male (mean 81.6%, SD 18.2%) and female (mean 76.3%, SD 21.1%) students, irrespective of the instrument used. The use of power-driven instruments (mean 81.3%, SD 20.5%) led to significantly better results than the use of manual curettes (mean 75.4%, SD 19.4%; P=.02), and the overall performance decreased over time (T1: mean 84.5%, SD 17.5%; T2: mean 72.3%, SD 20.8%; P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Female and male students performed equally well in subgingival debridement. Therefore, sex-differentiated teaching methods are not necessary.

Pilot Study Evaluating the Use of Typodonts (Dental Models) for Teaching Veterinary Dentistry as Part of the Core Veterinary Curriculum

Periodontal disease is one the most common disease pathologies in small animal medicine, yet new graduates report they feel unprepared to perform dentistry in general practice. Novel methodologies to close the knowledge gap in veterinary dentistry need to be identified. Typodonts (dental models) are commonly used in human dental schools to teach basic principles prior to practice on clinical patients and have been shown to be an effective teaching tool. The study aimed to determine if independent study and self-guided practice on a veterinary typodont prior to a structured, in-person cadaver laboratory with feedback increases students' perceived dentistry clinical skills in performing periodontal techniques. We calculated the knowledge gap before and after the cadaver laboratory by comparing the students' perceived and desired skill levels in performing periodontal charting, ultrasonic cleaning, hand scaling, and root planing. Ninety-six percent of students reported that practice with the dental typodont prior to the cadaver laboratory increased their comfort level in performing periodontal skills. However, practice did not result in a significant decrease in knowledge gap compared with participation in the cadaver laboratory alone. Although students perceived a benefit to practicing with the typodont, self-guided practice was not effective in decreasing the knowledge gap, most likely due to a lack of structured feedback with typodont use. Further investigation into the use of typodonts with direct feedback prior to structured laboratory or, alternatively, as an additional practice tool following a structured laboratory would further define if there is a benefit to typodont practice in veterinary dentistry.

Technical skill training and assessment in dental education

Highly competent clinical practice requires cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. Therefore, the ultimate goal of dental education is for practitioners to be competent in all of these domains. While many methods have been introduced to assess knowledge and non-technical skills, it is still very difficult for educators to assess technical skill. Assessment methods for technical skills are still not well established because it is very difficult to assure objectivity, validity and fairness. Nonetheless, technical skill is especially important in dental treatments, along with knowledge and attitude. The aim of this review was to summarize the methods of technical skill training in dental education and how they are assessed. This is a literature review. We searched PubMed MEDLINE using terms related to technical skill training and those assessment as of June 2020 and reviewed them. There have been many reports introducing methods of technical skill training and assessment, including the use of digital technology. However, no single assessment method had demonstrated validity of it. Technical skill training is very important in dental education and there are various ways of learning. The validity of current assessment methods is limited; therefore, a combination of several methods may achieve the best results.

Influence of motivation and a new digitized training program on undergraduate dental students during preclinical scaling training

BACKGROUND

The current study evaluated whether a new digitized scaling training program (DTP: n = 30; supervisor-student-ratio 1:10) improves the performance of undergraduate dental student during a preclinical course in regard to two different instruments [sonic scalers (AIR) and Gracey curettes (GRA)] compared to a conventional training program (CTP: n = 19; supervisor-student-ratio 1:4).

METHODS

All the participants received a two-hour lecture on both instruments, followed by a 12-week period with a weekly training program lasting 45 min (10 sessions); one group was supported by DTP. At the end of the training phase, all the participants performed the subgingival scaling of six equivalent test teeth using GRA and AIR. Treatment time, proportion of removed simulated biofilm (relative cleaning efficacy, RCE-b) and hard deposits (RCE-d) were recorded. By using a pseudonymized questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale, self-assessment of scaling effort, handling, root surface roughness/destruction and effectiveness were evaluated. In addition, personal data such as age, gender, handedness, regularity of playing computer games/consoles and previous dental/technical or medical education were elevated and correlated with cleaning efficacy.

RESULTS

The DTP participants showed higher effectiveness in RCE-b compared to those who used the CTP with GRA (71.54% vs. 67.23%, p = 0.004) and AIR (71.75% vs. 62.63%, p ≤ 0.001), and the DTP students were faster with both instruments (p ≤ 0.001). For RCE-d, there was no significant difference between the DTP and CTP groups (GRA p = 0.471; AIR p = 0.158), whereas DTP showed better RCE-d results with GRA versus AIR (84.68% vs. 77.85%, p < 0.001). According to the questionnaire, no significant differences were detected between the training groups in terms of self-assessment, handling, treatment time, root surface roughness/destruction or effectiveness of the instruments. The CTP group favored AIR compared to GRA regarding the fatigue effect. The CTP and playing computer games/consoles regularly was correlated with lower RCE-b, whereas previous education in medicine/dentistry was correlated with higher RCE-b values.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the limitations of the study, the DTP with a reduced supervision effort compared to the CTP resulted in higher effectiveness and lower instrumentation time for removing simulated biofilms.