Predictors of preclinical hand skill performance in dental school

Preclinical dental school instructors often observe some first-year students develop hand skills required for dental procedures more quickly and more easily than their peers. When questioned regarding prior experience, these advanced students often participated in physical activities that seem to predispose them to adapt their previously learned psychomotor hand skills to those required for dentistry.

This study examines the results of an Institutional Review Board approved 22-question survey of various lifelong predental school activities and correlations to first-year and second-year simulation clinic practical exam performance.

The survey was taken anonymously at the Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona by 4 consecutive dental school classes of 2017-2020 composed of 560 students, 552 of which responded. The purpose was to discover associations between lifelong activities and practical exam scores that may act as predictors of preclinical ability to develop visualization and psychomotor hand skills required for dental procedures.

Higher preclinical practical scores were found to have the most correlation with higher levels of participation in psychomotor, artistic and outdoor physical activities. Participation in computer, musical instrument and culinary activities had no significant correlation, and prior experience in the medical or dental field had a negative correlation.

The lack of participation in these predisposing lifelong activities may predict slower development of dental hand skills and signal the need for more hands-on tutorial instruction in the simulation clinic so these students do not lag behind their peers.