Impact of experiential learning on dental students' training in nitrous oxide inhalation sedation.

Purpose/objectives: Competence in nitrous oxide/oxygen (N O/O ) inhalation sedation is expected of dental graduates, but applying what is learned through didactic instruction to patient care can be challenging without firsthand experience. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of experiential learning on dental students' confidence and sense of preparedness for administration of N O/O .

Methods: A biphasic, mixed methods study was conducted at a Midwestern dental school and included 2 cohorts of dental students. In Phase 1 (spring 2019), a cross-sectional study design was used to survey outgoing third-year and fourth-year students who received didactic N O/O instruction alone. In Phase 2 (summer 2019), a nonrandomized, preintervention-postintervention study design was used to survey incoming third-year students before and after a hands-on N O/O laboratory exercise.

Results: Of the 79 Phase 1 students (99% response rate), all believed a firsthand learning experience with N O/O during didactic learning would increase their confidence and preparedness when administering to a patient (both P < .001). Of the 41 Phase 2 students (100% response rate), after the lab exercise, all felt that firsthand experience enhanced classroom instruction and increased confidence and preparedness when administering N O to a patient (all P < .001). Fifty-six (71%) Phase 1 and 39 (80%) Phase 2 students believed classroom instruction alone was inadequate to prepare them to administer N O/O (both P < .001).

Conclusions: Our results strongly suggest that experiential learning of N O/O inhalation sedation through a hands-on laboratory exercise should be incorporated into the predoctoral curricula of dental schools.