Development of a computer program for teaching periodontal diagnosis based on clinical epidemiological principles

Multimedia teaching tools in dental education are still rare. This paper describes the development of an inexpensive yet powerful computer program for instruction in the principles of clinical epidemiology. The application was developed in the context of periodontal diagnostic methodologies at the third year D.D.S. level. Principles of probabilistic thinking are invoked as the student is guided from the application of raw research data to the derivation of likelihood ratios and how they affect clinical decision making. A questionnaire was used to evaluate student satisfaction with the program and the responses indicated good acceptance of the concepts presented in the program and an interest in further computer-aided instruction.