Comparison of digitally assessed quality of posterior crown preparations performed with and without previous practice on patient-specific three-dimensional-printed teeth models.

INTRODUCTION: Three-dimensional (3D)-printing technology can provide customizable simulations, but its effects on patient care quality have not been well studied. This study aimed to assess the impact of practicing with patient-specific 3D-printed teeth models on the quality of patients' dental preparations performed by students transitioning to clinical training. Accordingly, the quality of posterior crown preparations was evaluated by objectively analyzing digital scans and grades in two groups: the study group, which practiced beforehand with patient-specific 3D-printed teeth models, and the control group, which did not practice with these models. METHODS: All 78 fourth-year dental students who had just finished their fixed prosthodontics course at the simulation laboratory with training on phantom heads and without previous clinical experience in crown preparations were invited to participate in the study. Sixty-eight agreed to take part and were randomly divided into a study group that practiced crown preparations on 3D-printed models of their own patient's teeth and a control group that did not practice with 3D-printed models and started their clinical work straightforwardly after simulation training. Students completed validated perception questionnaires on self-confidence and clinical skills before and after the protocol, which were compared using a chi-squared test. Crown preparations performed on 3D-printed models and then on patients were digitally scanned and objectively graded by prepCheck software for critical parameters, such as undercuts, taper, and occlusion reduction. Non-parametric tests were used to compare preparations on 3D-printed models and on patients performed by the study group and those on patients made by the control group. RESULTS: Initially, both groups reported similar perceptions of self-confidence and clinical skills levels. The study group significantly improved both aspects after the protocol. Analysis of the scanned preparations demonstrated that the study group removed less tooth structure from actual patients than from the initial 3D-printed models. In contrast, the control group showed excess occlusal clearance in their patients compared to the study group. CONCLUSIONS: Practicing patient-specific 3D-printed teeth before performing procedures clinically appears to enhance preparation quality and minimize unnecessary tooth reduction in early clinical experiences.

Dental students' perceptions and educational impact of preclinical interactive videos compared and in combination with live demonstrations.

OBJECTIVE: To study the utility of simulation videos with embedded quiz items compared and in combination with live hands-on demonstrations of dental procedures. METHODS: Thirty-three videos with embedded items were developed to help students understand the procedures they had to practice in the simulation laboratory. Videos were uploaded to the university LMS platform for students to watch and complete the embedded items as many times as they liked. All 76 students from 2021 and 73 from 2022 Integrated Dentistry III courses were invited to participate in the study. Practical (OSCE) and theoretical (MCQ) exam grades of the 2021 academic year, when interactive videos replaced live demonstrations, were collected and compared to those of the previous years (2017-2020) when only live demonstrations were performed, as were those from the 2022 academic year, when videos were complemented with hands-on live demonstrations. At the end of each year, a perception questionnaire was voluntarily completed by the students. RESULTS: Assessment grades were significantly higher in the 2021 academic year when interactive videos were incorporated versus the 2017-2020 period when only live demonstrations were performed. However, the combination of interactive videos with live demonstrations performed during 2022 showed the highest exam grades. Seventy-nine percent of students answered the questionnaire, highly valued the utility of the interactive videos and liked the embedded items. Overall, they stated that they learned from the videos. CONCLUSIONS: Interactive videos of preclinical procedures with embedded items combined with live demonstrations can significantly enhance students' learning and are valued by students.

Students' and tutors' perceptions of a deliberate simulated practice using patient-specific virtual and three-dimensional printed teeth models: A pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study aimed to investigate the perceptions of dental students and their tutors of a deliberate simulated practice using patient-specific virtual and three-dimensional (3D) printed teeth models. This is before they perform their first indirect posterior tooth restoration on their patients. METHODS: Seventy-eight fourth-year dental students from the 2021 Comprehensive Clinic I course at the University of the Andes, Chile, were invited to participate in a deliberate practice protocol. This consisted of digitally scanning their patients' teeth, printing the files three-dimensionally, and loading them into a virtual reality (VR) dental simulator to create patient-specific models. Subsequently, they practiced the same indirect posterior restorations on these models before performing them on their actual patients. Perceptions about students' preparedness to perform tooth preparations before and after the protocol were collected from students and their tutors through surveys. RESULTS: Sixty-three students (43 female) and six clinical tutors (all male) participated in the study. Before practicing with their patient-specific models, most students believed they had the knowledge, practical skills, and self-confidence to perform indirect restorations on their patients. However, after the protocol, most students thought their self-confidence increased and felt better prepared to treat their patients. Most students preferred the 3D-printed models over the VR models to practice but mentioned that it did not feel like drilling dental enamel. Tutors believed that participating students had higher self-confidence when treating their patients and were more autonomous. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that students and clinical tutors had positive perceptions of practicing with patient-specific virtual and 3D-printed teeth models before students performed their first indirect restorations on their patients.

Exploring teachers' motivation to teach: A multisite study on the associations with the work climate, students' motivation, and teaching approaches.

PURPOSE: Using Self-determination Theory, the purpose was to determine whether work climate, students' motivation, and teachers' basic psychological needs could predict clinical teachers' autonomous and controlled motivation to teach and whether clinical teachers' motivations could predict student- and teacher-centered teaching approaches METHODS: A correlational cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 across 3 Dental Schools in Chile, in which 206 clinical teachers participated (80.4% response rate). Data were collected on demographic characteristics and 5 self-reported questionnaires measuring teachers' perceptions of the work climate, students' motivation, the satisfaction and frustration of their basic psychological needs, motivation to teach, and teaching approaches. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlations and structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Alpha coefficients were acceptable (0.701-0.948). Correlation and structural equation modeling analyses showed that teachers' perceiving a work climate characterized by a supportive supervisor-teacher relationship and students' autonomous motivation, predicted the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs leading to autonomous motivation to teach. Autonomous motivation to teach, in turn, predicted a student-centered teaching approach. These results were controlled for the confounding effects of age, gender, teaching experience, and type of university. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that clinical teachers' optimal motivation is of paramount importance for promoting an adequate learning environment. Therefore, efforts should be made to understand and foster different aspects that promote clinical teachers' satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and autonomous motivation, especially regarding the role of teachers' supervisors and how teachers perceive their students' motivation.

Motivation as a Predictor of Dental Students' Affective and Behavioral Outcomes: Does the Quality of Motivation Matter?

Since the motivation to study and engage in academic activities plays a key role in students' learning experience and well-being, gaining a better understanding of dental students' motivations can help educators implement interventions to support students' optimal motivations. The aim of this study, grounded in self-determination theory, was to determine the predictive role of different types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation) in the affective and behavioral outcomes of dental students. Amotivation is the absence of drive to pursue an activity due to a failure to establish relationships between activity and behavior; controlled motivation involves behaving under external pressure or demands; and autonomous motivation is an internalized behavior with a full sense of volition, interest, choice, and self-determination. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in 2016, in which 924 students (90.2% response rate) from years one to six agreed to participate, granting permission to access their current GPAs and completing four self-reported questionnaires on academic motivation, study strategies, vitality, and self-esteem. The results showed that self-determined motivation (i.e., autonomous over controlled motivation) was positively associated with vitality, self-esteem, and deep study strategies and negatively associated with surface study strategies. The contrary results were found for amotivation. In the motivational model, deep study strategies showed a positive association with students' academic performance. Contrary results were found for surface study strategies. This study extends understanding of the differentiation of motivation based on its quality types and suggests that being motivated does not necessarily lead to positive educational outcomes. Autonomous motivation, in contrast to controlled motivation and amotivation, should be supported to benefit students with regard to their approaches to learning and well-being since it can promote students' vitality, self-esteem, deep over surface study strategies, and enhanced academic performance.

La importancia de la educación interprofesional en la enseñanza de la odontología: una revisión sistemática exploratoria analizando el dónde, el porqué y el cómo / The importance of inter-professional education in the teaching and learning of dentistry: A scoping systematic review analysing the where, why and how

En años recientes, la educación interprofesional ha aumentado su popularidad en la formación de odontólogos con el fin de facilitar la colaboración entre los miembros del equipo de salud y mejorar la calidad en la atención profesional. Por consiguiente, el propósito de este estudio es describir y analizar dónde, por qué y cómo se está realizando la educación interprofesional en la enseñanza de la odontología. Se realizó una revisión sistemática exploratoria a través de la búsqueda en diversas bases de datos, revistas relevantes, y literatura gris. Posteriormente se llevó a cabo un análisis temático para sintetizar la información. Treinta artículos fueron seleccionados, en su mayoría realizados en contextos norteamericanos y europeos, y en conjunto principalmente con estudiantes de medicina, enfermería y farmacia. La principal justificación para incorporar este tipo de enseñanza fue la necesidad de fomentar y valorar el trabajo en equipo para responder a las necesidades de salud de la actual población. El aprendizaje en equipos, la resolución de problemas, y el método de casos fueron las estrategias comúnmente empleadas, reportándose cambios positivos en habilidades de comunicación y colaboración entre los estudiantes. La discusión se centra en los beneficios y recomendaciones al planificar instancias de educación interprofesional en la enseñanza de la odontología

In recent years, inter-professional education has increased its popularity in the teaching and learning of dentists, with the aim of improving collaboration and quality of service. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to describe and analyse the where, why and how of inter-professional education in dental education. A scoping systematic review was conducted by searching multiple databases, a manual search of relevant journals, and in the grey literature. A thematic analysis was then performed on the data. Most of the 30 articles retrieved were produced in North American and European settings, and mainly jointly with medical, nursing and pharmacy students. The main justification was the need to promote and value teamwork in order to meet the needs of patients. Team-based, problem-based, and case-based learning were the most common learning strategies found. These reported positive changes with regards to communication and collaboration between inter-professional students. The discussion is centred on the benefits and recommendations when planning inter-professional education interventions in dental education

Motivational profiles and their relationships with basic psychological needs, academic performance, study strategies, self-esteem, and vitality in dental students in Chile.

PURPOSE: To determine dental students' motivational profiles through a person-centred approach and to analyse the associations with the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, study strategies, academic performance, self-esteem, and vitality. METHODS: A total of 924 students from the University of San Sebastian (Chile) participated in this cross-sectional cor¬relational study in spring 2016. Data were collected through 5 self-reported instruments, in addition to students' academic performance. The Cronbach alpha, descriptive statistics, and correla¬tion scores were computed. A k-means cluster analysis with intrinsic and controlled motivation was conducted to identify different mo-tivational profiles. Subsequently, multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for the effects of gender and year of study was carried out to assess differences among the retained motivational profiles and learning variables. RESULTS: All instruments showed acceptable Cronbach alpha scores. A 4-cluster solution was retained for the motivational profile over a 3- or 5-cluster solution. Students' motiva-tional profiles were characterized by different degrees of intrinsic and controlled motivation. The high intrinsic motivation groups showed higher perceptions of their basic psychological, a greater propensity for a deep rather than surface study strategy, better academic performance, and higher scores for self-esteem and vitality than the low intrinsic motivation groups, regardless of the degree of controlled motivation. CONCLUSION: Students with a high intrinsic motivation profile, regardless of their controlled motivation scores, reported better learning characteristics. Therefore, special attention should be paid to students' motivational profiles, as the quality of motivation might serve as a basis for interventions to support their academic success and well-being.

Establishing a good dentist-patient relationship: skills defined from the dental faculty perspective.

The importance of developing good dentist-patient relationships has been well documented, but previous studies have focused on social techniques, not considering the psychological and behavioral characteristics of patients, and have used definitions and instruments that were not dental-specific. Therefore, the aims of this study were to propose a definition of dentist-patient relationship skills, derived from dental faculty members' criteria and informed by Emotional Intelligence concepts, and to propose a preliminary dental-specific, face-valid, and reliable self-assessment instrument. The study was conducted in three phases. Phases I and II defined dentist-patient relationship competence through literature analysis and semi-structured interviews with expert key informants, establishing the outcome skills. In Phase III, the instrument was constructed and piloted. Communication skills and basic psychological tools resulted in core topics for use in practice. The definition both specifies and broadens social interactions in dentistry by including dental faculty members' criteria and topics such as psychological tools and pre-, intra-, and postoperative topics appropriate for use during consultation, examination, and treatment. The instrument was found suitable, reasonable, and accessible with a Cronbach's alpha level of 0.95. Future studies are needed to confirm the definition, as well as the instrument's validity, reliability, transference, and sensitivity to the dental educational environment.