Department of Clinical Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P. O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.
College of Dentistry, Majmaah University, P. O. Box 66, Majmaah, 11952, Saudi Arabia.
BMC Oral Health. 2024 Sep 27;24(1):1136. doi: 10.1186/s12903-024-04908-0.
To assess the current status of digital technology (DT) implementation in prosthodontics post-graduate (PG) programs in Saudi Arabian dental institutions.
A 19-item survey was created using Google forms and the link was emailed to the 29 prosthodontics PG program directors (advanced clinical training and joint program) in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire contained five Sect. 1) didactic training and DT usage in PG preclinical, clinical and laboratory training, 2) incorporation of DT in PG program, 3) utilization of DT and the types of cases treated by PG students during their course, 4) information on the faculties involved in prosthodontics PG education, and 5) potential challenges encountered and program directors' satisfaction of the PG program. Descriptive statistics was used to present the frequencies and proportions, and Chi square inferential test was used to compare the participants' response based on the type of PG programs (α = 0.05).
Only 28 program directors responded to the survey, yielding a 95.5% response rate. Among the program directors, 24 (85.7%) and 4 (14.3%) directors supervised the advanced clinical training and joint programs, respectively. Among the DT, CAD/CAM was the most used technology (50-80%), followed by intra-oral scanning (28-96%). Digital technology implementation was largely limited by lack of resources or equipment (67%), cost (53%) and scarcity of PG teaching staff (46%). A significant difference was observed between the programs regarding the mandatory use of DT for their cases (p = 0.03).
This multi-institutional survey of program directors revealed that DT is continuously implemented in the last few years. Saudi dental institutions must prioritize implementing and utilizing DT in PG training to graduate competent prosthodontists in this fast-paced digital era. While DT is pivotal in dental education, its implementation is limited in many institutions due to resources or equipment, cost, and lack of trained faculty.
评估沙特阿拉伯牙科机构中口腔修复学研究生（PG）课程中数字技术（DT）应用的现状。
使用 Google 表单创建了一个包含 19 个项目的调查，并将链接通过电子邮件发送给沙特阿拉伯的 29 名口腔修复学 PG 项目主任（高级临床培训和联合项目）。问卷包含五个部分：1）PG 临床前、临床和实验室培训中的理论教学培训和 DT 使用情况，2）PG 课程中 DT 的纳入情况，3）DT 的使用情况以及 PG 学生在课程中治疗的病例类型，4）参与口腔修复学 PG 教育的教师信息，以及 5）遇到的潜在挑战和主任对 PG 课程的满意度。使用描述性统计数据呈现频率和比例，并使用卡方推断检验根据 PG 课程类型比较参与者的反应（α=0.05）。
只有 28 名项目主任对调查做出了回应，回应率为 95.5%。在项目主任中，24 名（85.7%）和 4 名（14.3%）主任分别监督高级临床培训和联合课程。在 DT 中，CAD/CAM 是使用最广泛的技术（50-80%），其次是口内扫描（28-96%）。数字技术的实施主要受到资源或设备缺乏（67%）、成本（53%）和 PG 教学人员短缺（46%）的限制。在其病例中必须强制使用 DT 的问题上，不同课程之间存在显著差异（p=0.03）。
这项针对项目主任的多机构调查显示，近年来 DT 一直在不断实施。沙特牙科机构必须优先在 PG 培训中实施和利用 DT，以在这个快速发展的数字化时代培养出有能力的口腔修复学家。虽然 DT 在牙科教育中至关重要，但由于资源或设备、成本和缺乏受过培训的教师，其在许多机构中的实施受到限制。
