Modified Assessments for Sensorimotor and Visual-Attention Functions of Dental Students

Objectives: A variety of sensorimotor and visual-attention assessments, including the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test (TDT), the Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT), and the Visual Search Task (VST), have been used for assessing the fine motor skills of dental students. Traditionally, these assessments were conducted under a standardized condition for clinical diagnosis, which differs from the conditions of dental practice. The study aims to modify the testing conditions of the assessments and make them close to the realistic condition of dental practice.
Methods: Dental students were recruited to conduct the original TDT, PPT, and VST, as well as the version modified for dental practice (Figure 1): (1) The standard TDT of inserting a fixed number of pins was replaced by inserting pins into different spatial patterns. (2) The standard PPT of inserting pins with a direct visual check was replaced by an indirect visual check via a mirror. Finally, (3) The standard VST with a black background was replaced by an intraoral photo.
Results: (1) In the modified TDT, subjects spent more time on the spatial pattern ‘Q’ compared to ‘M’, suggesting increased difficulty of the asymmetric pattern of pin insertion. (2) In the modified PPT, subjects completed fewer pin insertions under indirect visual check (with a mirror) compared to direct visual check, suggesting increased difficulty of indirect visual check. (3) In the modified VST, subjects spent more time when the background was filled with an intraoral photo, compared to a blank background, suggesting increased difficulty from the distraction of the intraoral photo (Table 1).
Conclusions: The study presents modified assessments of testing sensorimotor and visual-attention functions of dental students and preliminary results. The new designs, which are closer to the conditions of dental practice, increase testing difficulty and may be more suitable for testing dental students.