Impact of Theoretical Comprehension on Periodontal Instrumentation Skills Development

The study aimed to investigate the impact of theoretical comprehension in periodontics on clinical instrumentation skills development through a longitudinal assessment.

Classes of 2023 (n1 = 126) and 2024 (n2 = 128) were included. Both classes took the same case-based examination (CBE) in the second year and similar CBEs in the third and fourth years. The two classes undertook the same instrumentation skill tests during the second and fourth years. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA, correlation tests, and linear regression analyses (LRA) were conducted with a significance level of α = 0.05.

The class of 2024 exhibited significantly lower performances on all three CBEs (p = 0.0002) than the class of 2023. Nonetheless, instrumentation skills development between the two classes did not differ based on the scores in the skill tests (p = 0.53), with identical clinical experience reflected as clinic points. A positive correlation between the clinic points and the fourth-year scaling competency examination scores and no correlation between the clinic points and the fourth-year CBE scores were observed. There were no correlations between the fourth-year CBE and fourth-year scaling competency examination scores based on R² values of 0.01 for the class of 2023 and 0.06 for the class of 2024 derived from LRA.

The outcomes of the didactic assessments were not predictive of performance in periodontal instrumentation. The lack of correlation between didactic and skill test scores suggests that cognitive understanding and manual skills are distinct domains, each requiring targeted instructional strategies and assessment methods.