Effect of a Standardized Training with Digital Evaluation on the Improvement of Prosthodontic Faculty's Performance in Crown Preparation: A Pre-Post Design.

Abstract

Standardized crown preparation is an important competency for prosthodontic faculty especially when they take on the dual role of clinician and clinical teacher. Effects of faculty training for enhancing crown preparation competency are seldom reported. This study aimed to analyze the impact of a standardized training workshop with digital evaluation on the dental faculty's performance in crown preparation. The digitally evaluated grades of anterior (the maxillary right central incisor) and posterior (the mandibular left first molar) tooth preparations made by 76 participants who accomplished all six training tasks were collected, including off-site and on-site exercises before the didactic lecture and live demonstration, three rounds of practices with digital feedback, and a final test. Grades of preparations performed in the on-site exercise were adopted as pre-training scores, and those in the final test as post-training scores. Total scores and marks deducted for the parameters including amount of reduction, margin line, and taper were compared among each training task. The post-training scores of both anterior and posterior tooth preparations increased significantly more than the pre-training scores. The average increased score proportion was 22.95% ± 4.17% for anterior tooth preparations, and 21.78% ± 3.68% for posterior tooth preparations. For anterior tooth preparations, total scores and the parameters except taper significantly improved in the first practice and maintained the same level for the next sessions. Total scores and all parameters for posterior tooth preparations exhibited continual improvement during the training process. Standardized training can further improve dental faculty's crown preparation performance in a moderate way. Individual design for crown preparation training can be considered based on different tooth positions. Providing such training will aid the calibration of clinical teaching behavior and the elevation of clinical operative standards for prosthodontic faculty.