Social networking website increases efficacy and engagement in a distance learning course about oral lesions.

PURPOSE: Distance learning appears to be an attractive approach to continuing education courses, but one barrier is maintaining learner engagement throughout the course. The primary aim of this research was to evaluate the operational efficacy of a private Facebook™ group (FG) in serving as a support mechanism for distance learning courses, and its impact on three fundamental dimensions: the attrition rates of participants who did not complete the course (commonly referred to as dropout rates), the rates of course completion and approval, and the overall performance of the participants. METHODS: The participants of this quasi-experimental study comprised 159 dental students and 565 dentists enrolled in an e-learning course on oral mucosal lesion diagnosis. Prior to the initiation of the course, all participants were provided with the option to join a private FG. Within this group, moderators shared motivational messages and provided reminders concerning deadlines. Moreover, participants had the opportunity to engage in interactive discussions pertaining to topics related to the course. The course itself followed a self-guided format, employing the flipped-classroom methodology, spanning a total of 50 instructional hours. In order to assess the effectiveness of the course, participants were presented with photographs illustrating 30 oral lesions and were asked to propose diagnostic hypotheses both before and after the educational intervention (pre-tests and post-tests). RESULTS: Dentists who participated in the FG exhibited a significantly lower rate of discontinuation. As for dental students, their involvement in the group was positively associated with better performance, as determined by the percentage of accurate diagnostic hypotheses (a minimum of 70% correct responses was required for their approval in the course). CONCLUSIONS: Facebook™ demonstrates promise as a supplementary pedagogical tool in distance education courses. The interactive nature of the platform has the potential to alleviate the inherent challenges of remote learning.

Influence of curing protocols on water sorption and solubility of a self-adhesive resin-cement

Aim: To evaluate the effect of different activation protocols on the polymerization of a self-adhesive dual cured resin-based cement. Methods: Thirty disc-shaped specimens were prepared with the resin cement RelyX U200 (3M ESPE) and divided according to three protocols: immediate light-activation for 40 s, delayed light-activation (10 min after manipulation, for 40 s) or self-curing without light-activation. The specimens were desiccated, kept in water at 37 °C for 7 days and desiccated again to calculate water sorption, solubility and mass variation. Data were analyzed by Shapiro-Wilk Test and Wilcoxon tests (α=0.05). Images after the specimens' final desiccation were also made. Results: The Wilcoxon test revealed a significant difference for sorption and mass variation (p<0.05) and the highest value was observed in self-curing or chemical activation group (CA), followed by delayed light-activation (DL) and immediate light-activation (IL). Besides the water sorption parameters, there were also microvoids on the discs from the delayed and no light-activation groups. Conclusions: The light-activation immediately after manipulation is recommended for the evaluated resin cement (Au)