Efficacy of a step-by-step carving technique for dental students

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a step-by-step carving technique that is quickly and efficiently mastered by dental students. Thirty-six final-year dental students volunteered to participate in this study. The students were given pre-prepared lower right first molar simulation teeth that had the occlusal half replaced in carving wax. The study was conducted in three time phases: pre-test (Time 1), participative learning (Time 2), and post-test (Time 3). The pre-test had the students carve the wax with no instruction. Instruction and demonstration of the technique were given at Time 2, and the post-test had the students carve the tooth again with no guidance but with training. A statistically significant increase with a nearly medium effect size was found from Time 1 to Time 2. A statistically significant increase with a medium effect size was found when comparing Time 2 to Time 3. A statistically significant increase with a large effect size was found when comparing Time 1 to Time 3. This technique has proved to be an effective method of simultaneously teaching a large cohort of predoctoral dental students. The technique is consistent with constructivist learning theory.