Haptics Vs Typodonts for Crown Preparation in Undergraduate Dental Student Education

This study aims to compare students' subjective perceptions and objective results by comparing two methods of crown preparation: typodonts and haptics.

Fifty-four second-year students were given instructions on crown preparation for the upper right second premolar. First on typodonts and then with haptics. They were given five minutes to familiarize with the artificial environment and then thirty minutes for the actual preparation. Finally, they completed a questionnaire about their experience. Their preparations were objectively compared by measuring the angle of total occlusal convergence-TOC on the typodonts and with haptics.

Students reported that haptics can enhance the learning process and that they would use them for skill training in the future. Overall, their experience was rated as positive. The TOC of teeth prepared with haptics was significantly higher than those prepared with typodonts, but all values were within the acceptable range.

Although students did not prefer haptics to typodonts, haptics appear to be a powerful tool in the educational process because it can be a complementary option to traditional methods at the preclinical level.