Predictors of preclinical hand skill performance in dental school.

Context: Preclinical dental school instructors often observe some first-year students develop hand skills required for dental procedures more quickly and more easily than their peers. When questioned regarding prior experience, these advanced students often participated in physical activities that seem to predispose them to adapt their previously learned psychomotor hand skills to those required for dentistry.

Objective: This study examines the results of an Institutional Review Board approved 22-question survey of various lifelong predental school activities and correlations to first-year and second-year simulation clinic practical exam performance.