European Journal of Dental Education最新文献

Objective: To determine which model - the banana or the 3D-printed anatomical model - is most effective for teaching sutures and biopsies to third-year dental students, considering both non-technical and technical aspects.

Materials and methods: A total of 74 students participated in this two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT). Non-technical effectiveness was evaluated by assessing students' reactions to the pedagogical models after the practical work (PW), as well as by measuring their perceived competence, confidence and anxiety both before and after the training. Technical effectiveness was objectively assessed by scoring sutures and biopsies using a criteria grid.

Results: Students in the 3D-printed anatomical group were more satisfied than those in the banana group across all assessed criteria, including ease of handling, realism and suitability for clinical preparation (p < 0.0001). After the PW, both groups showed improved competence (p < 0.001) and confidence (p < 0.001), as well as reduced anxiety (p < 0.001), with no significant intergroup differences. Objective suture assessment scores were higher in the 3D-printed anatomical group than in the banana group (17.68/20 vs. 12.97/20, p < 0.0001), while for biopsies, no significant difference was demonstrated (8.60/10 vs. 8.17/10; ns).

Conclusion: The 3D-printed anatomical model was superior to the banana model in both non-technical aspects (e.g., satisfaction) and in technical aspects for suture practicing. This superiority could be attributed in particular to the improved mechanical properties and realism. For biopsies, both models were technically equally effective, suggesting that tissue fidelity may be less critical for this procedure.

Purpose: As evidence continues to accumulate for the association between psychological trauma and poor oral health outcomes, the need for Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approaches in dental settings has become increasingly apparent. Training initiatives represent one promising approach to promoting TIC practices within dental settings. This study evaluated a training programme designed to improve TIC practices among Dental Hospital staff.

Methods: The training program comprised an interactive session covering understanding psychological trauma, how to respond to this in dentistry, and self-care for dental staff, administered over 3 hours. Dental, nursing, and administrative staff completed measures to evaluate their confidence and attitudes toward TIC practice before training, immediately after training, and approximately 1 year after the final training session.

Results: Analysis revealed that participants consistently rated the session as highly relevant and useful. Furthermore, participants' self-reported confidence toward TIC showed significant improvement following attendance at the training (p < 0.001), with average confidence levels increasing by approximately 30% after the training. Additionally, there was a significant difference in staff attitudes toward TIC between those who had completed the training and those who had not, approximately 1-year post-training.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that training programs such as ours can positively impact staff confidence and attitudes related to psychological trauma, potentially enhancing the dental experience for people with a history of psychological trauma.

Introduction: This study describes a faculty development initiative through implementing the Issue-Based Strategic Planning Model and SWOT Analysis Framework to establish a sustainable strategic direction and strengthen faculty governance.

Methods: A qualitative case study design was adopted, involving document reviews, stakeholder consultations, and anonymous surveys. The strategic planning process engaged faculty leadership and academic staff using a bidirectional approach, top-down and bottom-up. It involved six key steps: initial preparation, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, identification of strategic issues, reassessment of mission and vision, development of action plans, and execution with monitoring. Data sources included document reviews, management meetings, anonymous surveys, and thematic analysis of responses.

Results: The strategic planning process fostered unified understanding and engagement across departments. Twelve innovative ideas were consolidated into four strategic pillars guiding institutional transformation. The SWOT analysis identified key strengths (e.g., qualified faculty, accredited curriculum), weaknesses (e.g., lack of curriculum mapping, limited research funding), opportunities (e.g., international collaboration, faculty training), and threats (e.g., financial constraints, outdated research infrastructure). Four strategic goals were formulated: enhancing teaching and learning, promoting research, strengthening administration, and expanding clinical and community services. Implementation led to increased research output, coordinated international programs, and improved alignment of departmental Key Performance Indicators with institutional objectives.

Conclusion: Adopting structured strategic planning models enabled the faculty to align institutional goals with broader educational priorities while reinforcing academic values. This case demonstrates that strategic planning is essential for fostering institutional resilience and continuous improvement in dental education, ensuring long-term relevance, sustainability, and impact.

Introduction: Preformed metal crowns (PMCs) and pulpotomies are established treatments for carious lesions in primary molars. Despite their effectiveness, variability in knowledge and clinical experience amongst dental students has been reported. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and perceptions of Dutch dental students at the Academic Centre for Dentistry in the dental school of Amsterdam (ACTA). Regarding PMCs and pulpotomies in primary molars.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted amongst second-to-final year dental students at Academic Centre for Dentistry in the dental school of Amsterdam (ACTA). The 23-item questionnaire addressed knowledge, perceived curriculum coverage, and clinical/preclinical experience. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation tests were used (α = 0.05).

Results: Out of 120 invited students, 98 (81.6%) responded. While 75.5% of students considered the curriculum adequate for teaching PMCs, 84.7% felt that pulpotomies were insufficiently addressed. All students were familiar with the Hall Technique, and 50% had placed a PMC preclinically. Fewer students had clinical experience: 19.4% had placed a PMC and 9.2% had performed a pulpotomy. A positive correlation was found between preclinical and clinical PMC placement (Spearman's rho = 0.33, p = 0.0007).

Discussion: Whilst students received appropriate training regarding the use of PMCs, both in theory and practice, exposure to pulpotomy procedures remains limited.

Conclusions: Most dental students in Amsterdam demonstrated appropriate knowledge, preclinical experience and understanding of indications for PMCs compared to performing a pulpotomy. Therefore, greater emphasis should be placed on both the theoretical and practical aspects of pulpotomy.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the extent to which special needs dentistry (SND) content is incorporated into Australian undergraduate oral health programs and to assess the depth and sufficiency of training provided.

Methods: A comprehensive content analysis was conducted by reviewing publicly available information from the official websites of Australian oral health courses, including course handbooks and subject learning outcomes. The curriculum content was compared with the established learning domains and outcomes outlined by the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH), which were accessed from publicly available documents on the organisation's website.

Results: The analysis revealed significant variation in the depth and scope of SND content across different institutions, indicating a lack of consistency in training standards. Some programs demonstrated coverage of theoretical and clinical components, while others offered minimal exposure to SND-related content.

Conclusion: The findings highlight the need for enhanced education and training through curriculum development to improve the preparedness of the oral health workforce. Strengthening SND training can better equip graduates to meet the complex dental needs of people with disability and help reduce disparities in oral health care for this vulnerable population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the loss of tooth structure after the removal of temporary restorative materials between endodontic treatment sessions performed by undergraduate students.

Methods: Twenty human molar teeth underwent endodontic coronal access and were randomly divided into two groups. One group received a temporary restoration with zinc oxide and calcium sulfate-based temporary cement (ZNO) alone, while the other group was restored with a combination of zinc oxide and calcium sulfate-based cement at the base of the restoration, and conventional glass ionomer cement as the outer layer (GIC). Every week, four trained undergraduate dental students performed the coronal reopening of the teeth. The teeth were individually weighed after the coronal access and after each removal of the temporary restoration. This process was carried out for 4 weeks. After the fourth week, two specialists in restorative dentistry fully removed any remaining temporary materials and finished the cavity.

Results: The average tooth mass variation was calculated at each removal stage. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the variation in tooth mass as a function of the interventions. The final percentage mass variation was -1.946 (±1.096) for the teeth restored with ZNO, and -1.841 (±0.918) for those restored with ZNO + GIC. Every temporary filling removal presented a negative variation in tooth mass of 0.37% for ZNO, and of 0.63% for teeth restored with ZNO + GIC, respectively.

Conclusions: Successive removals of temporary restorative materials led to loss of dental structure. When comparing temporary restorations made with ZNO + GIC and ZNO, no differences in the lost mass were observed.

Background: Basic science subjects such as microbiology are essential to dental education but are often perceived by students as abstract or disconnected from clinical practice, which may reduce motivation and engagement. Educational strategies based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and active learning can help bridge this gap by promoting autonomy, competence and relatedness.

Methodology: We developed and implemented an experiential microbiology workshop focused on nitrate-reducing oral bacteria, selected for their direct relevance to oral and systemic health and their involvement in the well-characterised nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway. First-year dental students participated in a two-session intervention that included salivary nitrite measurements before and after beetroot juice intake, and culturing of oral bacteria using a colorimetric nitrate-reduction assay. A post-workshop survey assessed students' perceptions and motivation.

Results: Survey results indicated a significant increase in the students' perceived relevance (mean score from 3.66 to 4.15; p < 0.0001). Most students rated the activity as highly useful (73.4%) and interesting (77.5%), and 55.1% reported increased motivation to study microbiology. Qualitative feedback emphasized the value of applying theoretical knowledge in a clinically meaningful and personally relevant context.

Conclusions: The hands-on workshop enhanced dental students' motivation and perception of microbiology's relevance by integrating active learning with clinically contextualized content. The direct connection between oral microbiota, biochemical processes and health outcomes supports the use of similar experiential strategies in early dental curricula to foster engagement and deepen conceptual understanding.

Introduction: Clinical reasoning is considered a core skill for physicians, and its training should already be addressed in undergraduate medical education. At the University Medical Center Göttingen, students have been able to engage in formative key feature examinations since 2013. Recent studies have shown that these assessments can improve students' clinical reasoning skills. Such a teaching format was not previously existing in the study of dentistry. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of formative key feature examinations in dental education.

Materials and methods: In this prospective, randomised, controlled, crossover study, fourth-year dental students participated in six weekly computer-based seminars in which complex dental patient cases were presented, and the underlying theoretical knowledge was taught. In alternate weeks, groups of students were invited to either read specially prepared text formats (control condition) or solve key feature cases (intervention) that covered the same theoretical content. Each case contained on average six key feature questions (items) referring to the diagnostic procedure and treatment of the patient presented.

Results: Feedback from the evaluation questionnaire indicated that dental key feature cases were generally well received. In addition, key feature cases can be successfully integrated into dental education in the form of e-seminars. Learning growth self-assessment of participants showed a significant improvement in the overall learning objectives. Iterative work with key feature cases was clearly associated with significantly greater improvements in exit and retention test scores compared to text-based learning.

Conclusion: Repeated formative key feature examinations can be effectively implemented in dental education and dental students' clinical reasoning skills can benefit from working on these cases. In addition, strengthening clinical reasoning skills in undergraduate dental education can help to avoid unnecessary dental interventions in future practice, as outlined in the Choosing Wisely recommendations.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the prevalence of mental health issues among dental students in the Arabic-speaking countries and identify the contributing factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among dental students at multiple dental institutions from four Arabic-speaking countries namely, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Egypt. The survey questionnaire consisted of five sections: Consent to participate; Demographics of the participants; The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21); the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); and open-ended items.

Results: Of the 508 responses received, 429 provided complete PHQ-9 and DASS-21 scales, forming the basis of the analyses. Results indicated a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among dental students, with 34.27% self-reporting moderate depression and 9.86% severe depression. Additionally, significant gender differences were observed, with female students reporting higher levels of mental health symptoms for both DASS-21 and PHQ-9. The study also highlights the lack of significant association between year of study and severity of mental health symptoms, suggesting that mental health challenges are pervasive across all academic years.

Conclusion: These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to support the mental well-being of dental students, with particular attention to academic stress, gender differences, and cultural considerations. By addressing these challenges, dental education programs can foster a healthier, more supportive learning environment for students.

Background: The integration of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and haptic technologies is revolutionising dental education, offering transformative opportunities to enhance skill acquisition, ergonomic awareness and student well-being. These tools offer immersive, repeatable and personalised learning experiences, addressing challenges such as underdeveloped manual dexterity in digitally literate students and post-COVID disruptions in hands-on training.

Aim: This letter aims to highlight the transformative potential of AI-driven adaptive feedback paired with VR and haptic simulators in creating risk-free environments for mastering complex procedures, while advocating for strategies to reduce clinical errors and promote sustainability by minimising reliance on physical resources.

Discussion: Despite their potential, barriers such as high costs, resistance to change, logistical complexities and insufficient longitudinal evidence hinder widespread adoption. These challenges perpetuate educational disparities, particularly in low-resource regions, and necessitate targeted strategies such as cost-effective models, faculty retraining and international collaboration. The rise of digitally native educators and global initiatives, such as the Digital, VR-Haptic Thinkers network, signals a shift toward future-ready curricula that prioritise equity, sustainability and innovation. As mandated by the EU's 2024 directive, digital dentistry knowledge is now a fundamental component of basic dental training.

Conclusion: To fully harness these technologies, stakeholders must address evidence gaps, validate cognitive benefits and align curricula with modern learner expectations. This letter calls for urgent collaboration among educators, institutions and industry to overcome barriers, ensuring dental education evolves to meet 21st-century demands for equitable, high-quality oral healthcare delivery.