Student-led courses to teach cone beam CT in the predoctoral dental curriculum

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) provides a new method to evaluate the craniofacial region. The goal of our project was to introduce into the predoctoral dental curriculum a student-initiated, student-led introduction to CBCT and how to use it, with minimal expenditure of financial resources. A third-year student worked with two faculty members to design a course in which a small number of third-year students would lead a small group of second-year students. The first approach involved each small group of second-year dental students discussing one clinical case in which the patient's CBCT record was included. Representatives of each of the ten small groups presented the patient and that patient's clinical problem (e.g., an impacted tooth) to the entire class as well as demonstrating the superiority and limitations of using CBCT in clinical dentistry. The second approach also used small-group meetings led by third-year dental students, but paired two second-year dental students as a team to present the patient's CBCT data in the small-group setting. There were five teams each presenting a different type of patient as assessed only from the CBCT data. The first model focused on the problem (e.g., an impacted tooth), while the second model focused on how to evaluate and use CBCT scans to determine the patient's primary problem. Based on surveys conducted at the end of each course, the majority of students felt they had gained a better understanding of CBCT.