Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the digital education system on the crown preparation performance of dental students in repetitive preclinical training sessions, and students' perceptions of the digital software in fixed prosthodontic practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty dental students in the third year were recruited for the preclinical training of all-ceramic crown preparation on the lower right first molar in seven sessions. The first session (S1) included the initial didactic course and the first crown preparation practice with the instructor's guidance. The second session (S2) comprised training in using the pedagogical Dental Teacher system. Students participated in five consecutive practice sessions (S2-S6), receiving only digital feedback. The seventh session (S7) was conducted with no digital or instructor support for all students. The abutment teeth were compared to the original tooth and measured via Exocad software. Each preparation received ten component scores corresponding to ten specific areas of the tooth and an overall score (out of 10) based on how well it matched the criteria. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire survey to investigate their perception of the digital education software. RESULTS: In the occlusal surface, the scores significantly differed in the third/fourth session compared to the first session (p = 0.037), and this difference remained throughout the study (p = 0.002 for the fourth session and p < 0.001 for the fifth, sixth, and seventh sessions). No significant difference was found for the buccal and lingual surfaces. In the proximal surfaces, the reduction scores of the occlusal second differed significantly between sessions 1 and 5 and between session 1 and session 6. However, no difference in scores from the last and first sessions was found. In the cervical second, no score difference was observed during the study. The overall scores of tooth removal rose from a baseline of 6.52 ± 0.79 to 7.14 ± 0.67 in session 5 (p = 0.033) and 7.35 ± 0.75 in session 6 (p < 0.001), before falling to 7.05 ± 0.74 in the last session (p = 0.203). Participants using digital software reported high satisfaction (92.5-95.0%) and expressed interest in future use for prosthodontic training (100%). However, over 50% of students assumed that digital software was incapable of substituting for teachers for guidance or assessment of crown preparation. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that the digital software improved students' overall performance in preclinical prosthodontics and facilitated precision in some specific areas of tooth preparation. Preclinical crown preparation training benefits from the utilization of digital evaluation software; however, this digital pedagogic system cannot entirely replace the teachers' roles.