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Comparing traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods in dental education: a study of students' self-confidence and clinical performance

British Dental Journal volume 234, pages 682–686 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Aim To compare students' self-confidence levels and clinical performance scores between traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods in dental schools in India.

Methods A snowball sampling of undergraduate dental students who had completed their final year during 2021-2022 was undertaken. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to investigate students' self-confidence in performing 35 clinical procedures on a 5-point Likert scale. Additionally, the clinical performance score in external practical assessment during final year was assessed to correlate the self-confidence levels with traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods.

Results Students reported a higher level of self-confidence trained under the comprehensive (3.41 ± 0.40) compared with the traditional method (3.07 ± 0.50) (p <0.05). Interestingly, the median clinical performance score was higher for students using the traditional method (2.88) than for those using the comprehensive method (2.44); however, no significant difference was observed (p = 0.460). The correlation between self-confidence and clinical performance scores was strongly positive (r = 0.521).

Conclusion This study concluded that both traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods have strengths and weaknesses. Combining these two methods could improve clinical training in India.

Key points

  • An overview of the different clinical education methods used in dental schools in India.

  • This highlights the importance of general dental practice skills in undergraduate dental students.

  • This study highlights the need for more objective, validated, and universal clinical skill set evaluation methods for dental education.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all students who participated in this study.

Data supporting the findings of this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. The data were not publicly available because of privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Dentistry, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram, India

    Gadde Praveen, Danda Pujitha, Sai Gayathri Priya Narisetty, Rama Gowthami Sayana, Tejaswi Vanapalli & Sai Lakshmi Thushara Mokkarala

  2. Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram, India

    Indukuri Sai Lakshmi Durga

  3. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram, India

    Shivaji Raju Uddaraju

  4. Registered Dental Assistant, Lakewood Hills Dental, Lewisville, Texas, USA

    Sushma Pakalapati

Authors
  1. Gadde Praveen
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  2. Danda Pujitha
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  3. Indukuri Sai Lakshmi Durga
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  4. Shivaji Raju Uddaraju
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  5. Sai Gayathri Priya Narisetty
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  6. Rama Gowthami Sayana
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  7. Tejaswi Vanapalli
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  9. Sai Lakshmi Thushara Mokkarala
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Contributions

Gadde Praveen, Danda Pujitha, Indukuri Sai Lakshmi Durga, Shivaji Raju Uddaraju, Sai Gayathri Priya Narisetty, Rama Gowthami Sayana, Tejaswi Vanapalli, Sushma Pakalapati and Sai Lakshmi Thusara Mokkarala all made substantial contributions to the conception and design, acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data, drafting and critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gadde Praveen.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Vishnu Dental College (reference no: IECVDC/22/UG01/PHD/Q/61).

Participants were required to provide online consent before anonymously recording their responses to survey questions.

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Praveen, G., Pujitha, D., Lakshmi Durga, I. et al. Comparing traditional and comprehensive clinical training methods in dental education: a study of students' self-confidence and clinical performance. Br Dent J 234, 682–686 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5791-z

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