Using Standardized Patients to Teach Complete Denture Procedures in Second Year of Dental School

Second-year dental students are commonly instructed on the process of complete denture fabrication with a traditional didactic lecture and preclinical dental laboratory education model. The problem with this limited mode of instruction is that dental students often fail to understand the various chairside procedures required to fabricate a complete denture. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of standardized dental patients to enhance students' understanding of the procedures involved with each appointment in the complete denture process. The Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona created an event using standardized patients in four simulated chairside dental appointments for complete denture instruction of second-year dental students. Each appointment simulated the various sequential chairside procedures required to fabricate complete dentures. Following the didactic and dental laboratory instruction and the standardized patient event, a survey was conducted requesting the students' response to six statements regarding their understanding of the denture fabrication process. Of the 110 students who participated in the instructional events, 107 responded to the survey (97% response rate). These students responded very favorably to the simulated appointments, with the majority agreeing or strongly agreeing that their best understanding of the complete denture process was obtained through the standardized patient experiences. The use of standardized patients in simulated denture fabrication appointments enhanced the educational experience of these students when added to the traditional didactic lecture and preclinical laboratory education format. The experience has since been incorporated into the school's second-year oral health science laboratory curriculum.