Acquisition of psychomotor skills in dentistry: a follow-up study.

After promising results were achieved with an experimental method for teaching the acquisition of psychomotor skills to dental students, a long-term follow-up study evaluated the lasting effects of that method using preclinical and clinical grades, as well as an assessment of students' clinical technical performance. Though the experimental teaching method had a significant effect on student performance in the initial preclinical activities, the differences between the control and experimental groups diminished as the students progressed through subsequent preclinical courses. No significant differences were found in measures obtained during the clinical years.