Developing diagnostic skills from preclinical dental education: Caries detection and assessment using e-learning...

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Cariology
• Diagnostic Skills Development

Background:

• Developing accurate visual diagnostic skills for dental caries is crucial in preclinical dental education.
• Traditional methods may have limitations in providing consistent feedback and practice.
• E-learning offers a potential solution for enhancing diagnostic skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using e-learning assisted practice for teaching visual diagnostic skills in detecting and assessing dental caries.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of automated feedback in improving diagnostic accuracy.
• To measure the impact on inter-student variability in diagnostic performance.

Main Methods:

• A one-group, before-and-after study design was employed with 53 preclinical dental students.
• Students assessed clinical photographs for dental caries using the Nyvad criteria after a theoretical lesson.
• Automated feedback was provided, followed by a reassessment after one week to evaluate learning gains.

Main Results:

• Overall diagnostic accuracy significantly improved from 0.79 to 0.99 after implementing e-learning assisted practice and feedback.
• Accuracy was lower in distinguishing between sound surfaces and non-cavitated active caries, and between inactive and cavitated caries.
• Variability in diagnostic accuracy among students decreased, indicating a more consistent learning outcome.

Conclusions:

• E-learning assisted practice is a feasible and effective method for developing visual diagnostic skills in preclinical dental students for caries detection.
• The Nyvad criteria can be effectively taught and applied using this e-learning approach.
• Further research is needed to confirm long-term effectiveness and real-world clinical application.