A Tale of Two Teaching Methods: Students' Clinical Perspectives on Administering Dental Local Anesthetics

Various preclinical methodologies have been adopted by dental and oral health programs to develop student competence in administering dental local anesthetics (LA). Student-to-student practice is the most common preclinical training method. However, manikin simulation models have been introduced to avoid possible complications and ethical concerns with student-to-student injections. In 2017, the methodology was changed in the Bachelor of Oral Health program at The University of Sydney School of Dentistry in Australia from student-to-student practice to manikin simulation models. The aim of this study was to compare the students' learning experience, perceived confidence, and anxiety in giving their first injections to patients in these two preclinical training methods. A mixed-methods cohort design was used to compare the 2016 (n = 42) and 2017 (n = 32) oral health students' experiences and perceptions and evaluate students' clinical experience after commencing LA practice on patients. Students completed a questionnaire about their perceived level of confidence and anxiety before and after their first LA to a child and an adult for both infiltration and inferior alveolar nerve b lock (IANB) injections. Focus groups were conducted to further investigate the students' experience. The results showed that the perceived confidence and anxiety of the two cohorts did not differ significantly from each other. Although students found it difficult to transition into clinical practice without having experienced LA themselves, the manikin simulation practice provided a safe learning platform that avoided ethical and legal concerns. These findings support the use of manikin simulation models as an alte rnative method for dental local anesthetic preclinical training.