Scaffolding competence-based learning design in the dental simulation curriculum.

Introduction: Learning in a clinical domain in dentistry is complex and learners may face uncertain clinical scenarios. A simulation curriculum can be designed to have simple clinical scenarios and learning activities which progress in complexity and employ competence assessments of simulated clinical practice before students can undertake authentic practice on patients. This paper presents how scaffolding of competence can be used for designing learning with simulators (haptics and phantom head) demonstrated in a specific domain in restorative dentistry.

Learning Clinical Skills Using Haptic vs. Phantom Head Dental Chair Simulators in Removal of Artificial Caries: Cluster-Randomized Trials with Two Cohorts' Cavity Preparation.

Dental task trainer simulators using haptics (virtual touch) offers a cost-effective method of teaching certain clinical skills. The purpose of this study is to evaluate students' performance in removing artificial caries after training with either a haptic dental chair simulator with virtual reality or a traditional dental chair simulator with a mannequin head. Cluster Randomized Controlled Trials in two cohorts, both Year 1 dental students.

Identifying Risk Factors Affecting the Usage of Digital and Social Media: A Preliminary Qualitative Study in the Dental Profession and Dental Education.

Aims: This study aimed to identify the risk factors of using DSM to provide an insight into the inherent implications this has on dental professionals in practice and trainee professionals' education.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one participants (10 dental professionals and 11 undergraduate and postgraduate dental students) participated in this qualitative study using semi-structured interviews in a dental school in the UK. The interviews were analysed and categorised into themes, some of which were identified from previous literature (e.

A Scoring System for Assessing Learning Progression of Dental Students' Clinical Skills Using Haptic Virtual Workstations.

The aim of this study was to develop and test a scoring system to assess the learning progression of novice dental students using haptic virtual workstations. For the study, 101 first-year dental students at a UK dental school conducted one practice task (task 1) and four simulated cavity removal tasks (tasks 2-5) of increasing difficulty over two laboratory sessions in 2015. Performance data on the students' attempts were recorded as haptic technology-enhanced learning (hapTEL) log-files showing the percentage of caries, healthy tissue, and pulp removed.