Assessing decision-making in education of restorative and prosthetic dentistry: a pilot study

To evaluate whether a concordance assessment (CA) software application is able to assess decision-making in restorative and prosthetic dentistry.

Vignettes representing 10 different clinical situations were integrated into a software application. Each vignette included 3D digital models and a short case, as well as 5 therapeutic options rated on a 4-point Likert scale (-2 = strongly contraindicated; -1 = contraindicated; +1 = indicated; +2 = strongly indicated). A panel of 15 dental educators (9 educators from the prosthetic department [PD] and 6 from the conservative department [CD]) had to evaluate the indication of each of the 5 therapies for the 10 vignettes.

This pilot questionnaire showed good internal consistency on most therapies (Cronbach's α = 0.86), with the exception of more recently introduced therapies (overlay/veneerlay and endocrown). On a maximum score out of 100, the average of CD educators (79.2 ± 3.2) was not significantly different (P = .73) from that of a PD educator (77.8 ± 3.5). Scores ranged from 66.8 to 89.6. Analysis of the expert panel's responses also reported mostly (34/50) a distribution of responses that was characteristic of CA and uncertain situations.

The present software application was able to reproduce and assess decision-making in dentistry with satisfying internal consistency of educators.