IADR Abstract Archives
Revolutionizing Dental Anatomy: Participatory Innovative Approaches to Bridge Theory-Practice Gaps
Objectives: The transition from dental education to practice can be challenging for many novice clinicians due to the discrepancies between the curriculum and clinical practice. Dental anatomy is one area where such discrepancies are prominent, despite its relevance in clinical restorative dentistry. Therefore, this study describes and evaluates an innovative and participatory dental anatomy teaching approach where a clinical case of anterior veneer preparation was incorporated in a digital-carving and a conventional wax-up exercises.
Methods: Students’ performance in anterior wax-carving was compared before and after the implementation of the digital-carving exercise. The students’ digital-carving scores were compared across three academic years. Qualitatively, focus groups were conducted with 31 first-year dental students to explore their digital-carving experiences. For the participatory wax-carving activity, instructors and participating patients blindly evaluated the students’ anterior wax-ups of the patients’ own case using a 0-100 scale. The scores were analyzed using t-tests and Pearson’s correlations.
Results: The incorporation of the digital-carving exercise was found to contribute to a statistically significant improvement in the students’ wax-carving performance (p-value = 0.0001). Students’ digital carving skills also statistically improved over three years. Students reported the need for support via additional guidance, resources, and timely feedback during the exercise. A total of 13 patients and one instructor evaluated 566 students’ anterior wax-ups in the participatory exercise. A statistically significant difference was observed between the instructor’s and patients scores (p-value=0.001), with instructor’s demonstrating higher scores (mean=85.79) than patients (mean=67.78). Moreover, a positive and statistically significant correlation was observed between the instructor’s and patients’ scores (r= 0.42, p-value=0.001).
Conclusions: Patient-based digital-carving exercises and participatory learning using patients’ perspective are promising tools that can enhance the relevance of dental anatomy education and improve students’ preparedness for clinical practice. Future studies can explore the incorporation of such approaches in other components of the dental curriculum.
Methods: Students’ performance in anterior wax-carving was compared before and after the implementation of the digital-carving exercise. The students’ digital-carving scores were compared across three academic years. Qualitatively, focus groups were conducted with 31 first-year dental students to explore their digital-carving experiences. For the participatory wax-carving activity, instructors and participating patients blindly evaluated the students’ anterior wax-ups of the patients’ own case using a 0-100 scale. The scores were analyzed using t-tests and Pearson’s correlations.
Results: The incorporation of the digital-carving exercise was found to contribute to a statistically significant improvement in the students’ wax-carving performance (p-value = 0.0001). Students’ digital carving skills also statistically improved over three years. Students reported the need for support via additional guidance, resources, and timely feedback during the exercise. A total of 13 patients and one instructor evaluated 566 students’ anterior wax-ups in the participatory exercise. A statistically significant difference was observed between the instructor’s and patients scores (p-value=0.001), with instructor’s demonstrating higher scores (mean=85.79) than patients (mean=67.78). Moreover, a positive and statistically significant correlation was observed between the instructor’s and patients’ scores (r= 0.42, p-value=0.001).
Conclusions: Patient-based digital-carving exercises and participatory learning using patients’ perspective are promising tools that can enhance the relevance of dental anatomy education and improve students’ preparedness for clinical practice. Future studies can explore the incorporation of such approaches in other components of the dental curriculum.