Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2022 May;26(2):409-415. doi: 10.1111/eje.12717. Epub 2021 Sep 23.
Class IV composite restorations are one of the biggest challenges in dentistry. Furthermore, replacing adequate proximal contours on Class IV restorations is crucial for the function and aesthetics. The objective of this study is to assess four different teaching strategies used to improve first-year dental students' Class IV restoration proximal contact performance over a period of 4 years.
We assessed four cohorts of first-year dental students who were exposed to four different teaching strategies during the first-year preclinical training over two consecutive academic terms. The four different teaching strategies used were: (a) two waxing exercises (control cohort, strategy 1); (b) digital dentistry and four waxing exercises (strategy 2); (c) four waxing exercises (strategy 3); and (d) four waxing exercises and live demonstrations (strategy 4). All cohorts were exposed to the same didactic lecture of Class IV restorations.
Our results showed that all teaching strategies resulted in better student's performance and content retention compared to the control cohort. However, the teaching strategy that resulted in the best pass/fail ratio was the association of waxing exercises with live demonstrations (strategy 4).
Increasing the number of waxing exercises may improve students' performance either alone or associated with different teaching strategies. However, when associated with live demonstrations, waxing exercises have significantly reduced critical errors.
Our study demonstrated for the first time the benefits of the affordable and traditional waxing exercises associated with instructor demonstrations as a teaching strategy for first-year dental students.
IV 类复合修复体是牙科领域的最大挑战之一。此外，对于功能和美学而言，替换 IV 类修复体上足够的近中轮廓至关重要。本研究的目的是评估在四年内用于提高一年级牙科学生 IV 类修复体近中接触性能的四种不同教学策略。
我们评估了四个一年级牙科学生群体，他们在连续两个学术学期的第一年临床前培训中接受了四种不同的教学策略。使用的四种不同教学策略包括：(a) 两次上蜡练习（对照组，策略 1）；(b) 数字化牙科和四次上蜡练习（策略 2）；(c) 四次上蜡练习（策略 3）；和 (d) 四次上蜡练习和现场演示（策略 4）。所有队列都接受了相同的 IV 类修复体的理论讲座。
我们的结果表明，与对照组相比，所有教学策略都导致学生的表现和内容保留更好。然而，导致通过/失败比率最佳的教学策略是将上蜡练习与现场演示相结合（策略 4）。
增加上蜡练习的次数可能会单独或与不同的教学策略一起提高学生的表现。然而，当与现场演示相结合时，上蜡练习可显著减少关键错误。
我们的研究首次证明了负担得起且传统的上蜡练习与教师演示相结合作为一年级牙科学生的教学策略的好处。
