European Journal of Dental Education最新文献

Introduction: Burnout has become a significant issue in dentistry in recent years, affecting both qualified dentists and dental students. By identifying and managing the key sources of burnout for dental students early on, this can help to reduce levels of burnout later in their careers.

Materials and methods: Eighty-four dental students from the University of Birmingham completed a questionnaire derived from the Maslach Burnout Inventory to assess the levels of burnout amongst these students. This survey also extracted information regarding the students' main sources of burnout and suggestions to prevent burnout in future cohorts.

Results: 28.5% of the surveyed students were classed as 'burnt out' according to the findings of the questionnaire, with the key sources of burnout including exams, clinical requirements and patient admin. Suggestions for reducing burnout included spreading heavy workloads out evenly through the year and offering more support and advice to students on how they can prevent burnout.

Discussion: Although some of the sources of burnout for dental students are not completely avoidable, such as exams and clinical work, smaller changes can definitely be made to improve student experience and reduce burnout levels. The School of Dentistry has already started to succeed in taking action to reduce burnout by acting on suggestions from students, such as increasing study spaces in the Dental Hospital and introducing morning yoga classes.

Conclusion: Further steps should still be taken to reduce burnout amongst dental students; research should also be carried out to investigate the effects of these interventions on burnout levels.

Introduction: Dental students develop fine motor skills that include a complex interplay of finger dexterity, posture and progressive visual-tactile improvement through spatial awareness and cognition facilitated through university simulation training. Identifying students with a natural aptitude for these skills is vital to make the most of available resources. This study examines the relationship between pre-existing hobbies and fine motor skills before and after a five-week training module.

Materials and methods: Seventy-two first-year students at an Australian University completed a questionnaire that measured their personal interests. Students' performance on a foundational cavity preparation task was assessed before and after five weeks of simulation clinic training on plastic typodont teeth. In-class assessment tasks aimed to evaluate innate and acquired skills. The relationships between personal interests and cavity preparation skills, before and after the simulation training, were explored.

Results: The three hobbies with the highest mean cavity preparation percentage at baseline were playing music (51.7%; 95% CI: 41.5, 61.9), cooking (50.3%; 95% CI: 45.1, 55.5) and participating in sports (48.4%; 95% CI: 42.9, 53.8). Estimated mean improvement in cavity preparation was highest for participants that had cooking as the only hobby (19.2%; 95% CI: 14.4, 24.1). Participants with four hobbies had the lowest mean improvement in cavity preparation, with 11.3 (95% CI: 5.1, 17.5) percentage units. Participants with zero hobbies improved by 11.7 (95% CI: 7.7, 15.7) percentage units.

Conclusion: Cooking at least once a week has a better impact on the mean improvement in scores after formal university simulation training than other hobbies. Students without any identified hobbies might benefit from task-specific training for fine motor skills improvement.

Background: Effective communication in dentistry is crucial for patient understanding and promoting health. Undergraduate dental education provides a critical opportunity to instil these skills.

Objectives: To describe the self-perceptions of undergraduate dental students at Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) regarding their communication skills and evaluate communication training across the current undergraduate programme.

Methods: A structured multilingual online questionnaire was designed and distributed to undergraduate dental students during 2023. It collected demographic data (age, nationality, program year) and assessed global self-perceived communication competency (scored from 1 to 5), use of good communication practices (range of 0-28), perceived course impact on communication development, and adequacy and implementation of enabling methodologies. Communication development was evaluated across the curriculum.

Results: Of 480 students, 137 (28.5%) participated in the survey (22-25 years old, 75.9% female). Communication competency was predominantly self-perceived as 'very good' (38.7%). Mean score of good communication practices was 23.6 (SD 3.3), showing significant differences by age (p = 0.02) and program year (p = 0.02). Interacting with patients and clinical cases was the primary methodologies preferred for developing communication skills. Integrating specific relational competencies defined by the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) throughout the curriculum was recommended.

Conclusions: Students reported high self-perception of their communication skills and consistent use of good communication practices in most clinical situations. Practical, patient-focused methodologies were preferred for skill acquisition by students. Specific ADEE relational competencies should be included in the curriculum to strengthen the communication skills of dental students.

Introduction: This prospective cohort study evaluated dental students' confidence and competency in root canal treatment across their dental programme, encompassing the transition from preclinical laboratory to clinical patient care.

Material and methods: A cohort of 23 dental students was assessed during four phases of the DDS program over three academic semesters (18-month calendar year). Data collection occurred at the following stages: upon completion of the preclinical endodontic laboratory course (P1); at the conclusion of the Comprehensive Clinical Care I course, where students performed single-rooted canal treatments on patients (P2); after training with plastic/artificial multi-rooted teeth (P3); and upon completion of the Comprehensive Clinical Care II course, where students performed multi-rooted canal treatments on patients (P4). Self-reported confidence levels were measured using Likert scales, while root canal treatment competency was evaluated based on final radiographic outcomes. Focus group discussions explored students' perceptions of self-confidence and competence across the four phases and during the transition from preclinical to clinical practice. Quantitative data were analysed using statistical methods, while qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis.

Results and discussion: Confidence levels increased from P1 to P2, reaching a peak at P3 and P4. Participants demonstrated higher technical competency in root canal obturations during patient care than in laboratory work. Key themes were expectations/feelings and technique, with pulp chamber access opening identified as the most challenging procedure. The transition to clinical care induced fear, anxiety, and insecurity initially, but participants reported reduced anxiety and improved technical performance when working with patients.

Conclusion: Dental students exhibited enhanced competence and confidence in endodontic treatments when performed in the clinical setting, reflecting positive progression across the evaluated requirements.

Introduction: This study evaluated and compared the technical quality of treatments performed during the preclinical training using artificial and natural teeth and the students' perceptions regarding their learning process with the 2 groups.

Materials and methods: The study assessed the teeth used for preclinical training by 2nd-year students at São Leopoldo Mandic School of Dentistry. The natural teeth group (NTG) included the teeth used by the class of 2021, and the artificial teeth group (ATG) assessed the artificial teeth (LikeReal, Porto Alegre, Brazil) used by the class of 2022. The teeth were visually and radiographically observed, and the errors were divided according to the location in the crown or in the root. Errors in the crown included perforation, damage to the marginal ridge, fracture, and remnants of gutta-percha. Errors in the roots included overfilling, obturation at the apex, obturation > 2 mm short of the apex, voids, instrument separation, ledge, and root fracture. The students' perceptions were assessed by a questionnaire with 10 questions involving ethical, biohazard, technical challenges, and fairness of the evaluation. The chi-squared test was used for differences at p < 0.05.

Results: 408 teeth were assessed, 204 in each group. In the NTG, remaining gutta-percha, 36 (17.64%); voids, 53 (25.98%); and root filling at the apex, 48 (23.52%), were the most common errors. In the ATG, remaining gutta-percha, 45 (22.05%); voids; and filling > 2 mm short, 65 (31.86%) were the most common errors. In the ATG, the occurrence of damage to the marginal ridge and filling > 2 mm short of the apex was less frequent than in the NTG; ledges and root fractures were more frequent in the ATG (p < 0.05). Regarding students' perception, NTG was superior in access and instrumentation; both groups thought that training with natural teeth was better. The students in the ATG were more concerned with the ethical and biohazard aspects.

Conclusions: The technical quality of the treatments was similar in both groups; however, artificial teeth were more prone to fracture, indicating that improvements are necessary for the material. The students' perception was that natural teeth are more appropriate for their training.

Objective: The spectrum of socio-economic backgrounds can lead to an unpredictable range of social interactions between patients and prospective dentists. Tolerance is essential for patient relationships and conflict resolution, making it a topic of significant scientific and practical importance. This study aimed to explore the tolerance levels of dental students at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) towards their patients in relation to the students' associated circumstances.

Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the tolerance level of dental interns and senior dental students of KAU towards their patients. The Likert scale was used in the questionnaire with bi-directional questions with points allocated. The questionnaire assessed demographic data and lifestyle patterns of the participant as well as the participant's tolerance towards various clinical scenarios involving patients of different nationalities and behaviours.

Results: In this study, 193 participants out of 254 completed the questionnaire, for a response rate of 75.98%. The dental interns reported more tolerance than 6th-year dental students, and students with a grade point average score of 'B' were found to be more tolerant than those with other scores. Male and female students were more tolerant of different parameters. Diet and sleep could not be directly correlated to tolerance. Married students and students living with family exhibited higher tolerance than single students and those living alone.

Conclusion: This study established a variety of factors that can influence tolerance levels. It would be informative to conduct future investigations with a broader range of patients and analyse the relationship between tolerance and other emotional parameters.

Introduction: The International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) is a standardised method for recording caries severity. Effective training in ICDAS is essential for dental faculty and students. This pilot study aimed to compare the effectiveness of photographic images versus extracted teeth in ICDAS training and to assess whether restorative and nonrestorative dental faculty achieve similar accuracy in ICDAS coding.

Methods: Following comprehensive ICDAS training, dental faculty participated in a rotation through diagnostic stations, where they assigned ICDAS codes to tooth surfaces. The specimens consisted of either extracted adult teeth or their corresponding photographic images, each was preassigned a gold standard ICDAS code. Faculty members were categorised as belonging to either restorative or nonrestorative disciplines. After each rotation, individual performance was assessed by calculating linearly weighted Kappa (k_w) values comparing each participant's coding to the gold standard. Data were analysed using nonpaired, nonparametric, statistical methods. The study was completed over two end-of-training sessions, one of which included a repeat circuit of stations following a 1 h rest period.

Results: With k_w scores as measures of ability, dental faculty coded more accurately with extracted teeth carious surfaces than with photographic images (p = 0.0005). When grouped by specialities, there were nearly identical median k_w scores (p = 0.482), with extracted teeth suggesting that dental faculty of all types of speciality can use ICDAS effectively.

Conclusions: Extracted teeth appear to have value in training ICDAS as well as photographic images. Dental faculty of all types of specialities can use ICDAS effectively after similar amounts of training.

Clinical relevance: This study contributes to the refinement of training strategies for the ICDAS caries detection system, an important component of the dental curriculum and a system which is widely recognised as facilitating effective early reversal of dental caries lesions. Specifically, in this pilot study, the use of extracted teeth as teaching tools appeared to offer additional diagnostic value compared to photographic images, possibly by improving the correct identification of ICDAS codes for early lesions. Also, the study demonstrates that dentists from both restorative and nonrestorative disciplines should be able to successfully adopt, apply and teach ICDAS coding, thereby promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and fostering uniformity in caries management practices.

Aim: To assess whether the use of centring rings for intraoral radiographic imaging reduces the number of retakes or the frequency and size of cone cuts in intraoral images performed by dental students.

Material and methods: Seventy-three dental students were randomly allocated to either a test or control group before training intraoral imaging on a phantom. Both groups used phosphor plate holders for periapical imaging of anterior and posterior teeth and for bitewings. Additionally, the test group used dedicated centring rings mounted to the holder (Kerr, Hawe, USA). After phantom training, the students performed intraoral imaging in 127 patients. Before patient examination, the number of planned periapical images and bitewings was recorded. After patient examination, the percentage of retakes was calculated in addition to the frequency and size of cone cuts. Differences between the two groups were tested with the Mann-Whitney U test (percentage of retakes and size of cone cuts) and chi-squared test (frequency of cone cuts).

Results: The test group performed 920 intraoral images and the control 835. The percentage of bitewing retakes was significantly lower in the test group (p = 0.014), whereas there was no difference in periapical retakes (p = 0.37) between the groups. The frequency of cone cuts was significantly lower in the test group for both periapical images and bitewings (p < 0.001). The size of cone cuts was lower in the test group, although this was not significant (p > 0.20).

Conclusion: In general, it seems beneficial to use centring rings for dental students when learning to perform intraoral imaging since the percentage of retakes as well as the frequency and size of cone cuts were reduced.

Introduction: Empathy is an attribute that allows an intersubjective connection between dental students and their patients, which benefits both. Empathy can be affected by stress, depression and distress, which can have consequences for empathic capacity. One factor attributed to the ability to inhibit this negative influence is resilience.

Objective: To determine the predictive capacity of resilience on empathy.

Materials and methods: A total of 3893 dental students from five Latin American countries participated. Resilience and empathy scales were applied. Univariate descriptive measures were estimated for both scales. Full psychometric analysis was performed, including Confirmatory Factor Analysis, reliability, measurement invariance and Structural Equation Modelling to determine the predictive capacity of resilience on empathy and cut-off points for both attributes.

Results: The theoretical model was supported in both scales. Invariance was observed between groups (sex). Resilience was found to have predictive capacity for empathy. Ecological resilience positively predicted all three dimensions of empathy; likewise, engineering resilience negatively predicted the 'compassionate care' and 'walking in the patient's shoes' dimensions and adaptive resilience negatively predicted all three dimensions of empathy.

Conclusions: Resilience has predictive capacity for empathy.