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PURPOSE: To determine whether digital training improves conceptual skills acquisition for custom tray fabrication and tooth arrangement in the preclinical curriculum for complete denture fabrication. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A crossover design study compared third-year student grades after conventional (manual) and digital training. Half the students were trained with conventional techniques prior to digital, while the other half were trained with digital techniques prior to conventional. The first part of the study (DP1) focused on custom tray fabrication and involved 154 students. The second part (DP2) focused on tooth arrangement with 204 students. The effect of preliminary digital training on conceptual skills was assessed by comparing the results of the students using a Student's t-test. Results were also analyzed by ranking on the students' Perceptual Ability Test (PAT) score. Finally, students' satisfaction with the training was investigated. RESULTS: Students who completed the initial digital session achieved better custom tray fabrication and tooth arrangement in the subsequent manual sessions. For manual laboratory work, the most dexterous students (PAT1 group) demonstrated the best performance. However, PAT2 students had the best performance during the digital sessions during DP1, and PAT1 and PAT2 students had the best performance during the digital sessions during DP2. Additionally, 40% of DP1 and 12% of DP2 students expressed satisfaction with digital sessions. CONCLUSION: With complementary manual and digital teaching, digital tools may be useful for enhanced student learning. Digital training has contributed to improve results in manual sessions but did not affect student satisfaction and remained a limited tool to detect learning difficulties.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Advances in CAD-CAM complete dentures open up opportunities in preclinical laboratory education. A cross-over study was conducted to assess the benefit of digital training in custom tray fabrication. Hypotheses were that digital training improved conceptual skill acquisition and that assessment of digital work helps in the discrimination of students' difficulty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Third-year students were allocated either into group A and took the manual practical classes before the digital ones, or into group B (N = 154). Prior to the sessions, a motor skill test was conducted. The influence on the learning process was evaluated by comparing the groups' results to the manual lab work with a Student's t-test. The effectiveness of the assessment in discriminating manual aptitude and conceptual skill was studied through Spearman's rank coefficient between digital and manual scores in conceptual skill and with a subgroup analysis according to the results of the motor skill test. The level of significance was set up at .05. Students' satisfaction was also assessed with a questionnaire. RESULTS: Students in group B achieved better scores. Spearman's rank coefficient test showed a weak correlation, R = .16. For manual lab work, the most manually skilled students did significantly better. In contrast, for the digital session, the medium manually skilled students did better. More than half of the students (55%) found the manual and digital sessions complementary, without identifying any difference depending on the learning sequence. CONCLUSION: Digital training improved the students' results in the conventional practical exercise. Assessments of the digital and conventional custom trays were complementary in order to distinguish conceptual and motor skills.