A comparison of simulation and traditional local anesthesia teaching methods among dental hygiene students.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced dental educators to quickly modify the teaching-learning platform without testing outcomes of alternative teaching methods prior to implementation. One critical course affected was the teaching of local anesthesia (LA) that moved from practicing injections using the traditional student-to-student method to the simulation model using manikins.

Purpose: This study compared two LA teaching methods (student-to-student versus simulation) in two consecutive cohorts before and during the pandemic to assess differences in students' skill level and self-confidence.