Snowballing oral pathology: an innovative approach to dental education

To evaluate the efficacy of a modified snowballing method in teaching Oral Pathology to dental students, aiming to enhance their understanding and performance in elaborating clinical diagnoses and in preparation for dental board exams.

Oral Pathology topics relevant to the dental curriculum were introduced to students throughout the course. At the end of the term, practice sessions were booked and essential information about this active methodology was provided to the students, who reviewed the content and individually tackled a multiple-answer quiz mirroring the format of their upcoming dental board exams. Subsequently, students formed small groups to retake the same quiz, this time, sharing knowledge and discussing answers collaboratively amongst themselves. Each group reached a consensus on their answers and submitted a single group response. The exercise concluded with a class discussion led by the course coordinator to consolidate learning outcomes.

The class average on the individual quiz was 51.7% ± 5.8%, which significantly improved to 80.6% ± 4.3% on the group quiz (p = 0.001). Every student exhibited up to 61.6% of improvement in their scores when comparing individual and group quiz results.

Integrating a modified snowballing technique into dental education enhances diagnostic reasoning, teamwork, and exam preparedness among dental students. This active learning approach fosters essential skills for interprofessional collaboration and better equips future practitioners to manage complex oral health cases within integrated health care settings. The modified snowballing technique employed herein has significantly and positively impacted the performance of dental students in their performance on board exam-style Oral Pathology questions. It is expected that implementing a modified snowballing technique in dental education can lead to better learning outcomes and increased confidence among students in handling clinical cases and exam scenarios, also helping them prepare more effectively for dental board exams.