2018 Volume 10 Issue 4 Pages 335-344
Purpose: Treatment with CAD/CAM composite crowns has become a common prosthodontic option in Japan; however, systematic preclinical education for CAD/CAM composite crowns has not been established in dental schools. In 2016, the Tohoku University School of Dentistry introduced a practice system for CAD/CAM composite crowns into the preclinical education of 4th year dental students. In this article, the contents of the system are introduced, with a discussion of the educational effects.
Materials and methods: In the 2016 preclinical class of fixed prosthodontics for 44 dental students (4th year), a series of CAD/CAM composite crown procedures, i.e., preparation of the upper second premolars, final impression-taking, production and scanning of the working cast, and computer-aided design and manufacturing processes, was performed using a dental simulator. At the end of the class, the tooth preparation skills of the students were evaluated with a scoring rubric. The efficacy of the practice system was assessed by comparison with the results of the same evaluation for 50 dental students in the 6th year who had not experienced the same practice for CAD/CAM composite crowns in their 4th year.
Discussion: The average total score of the 4th year students was significantly higher than that of the 6th year students. In particular, the scores of the 4th year students were superior to those of the 6th year students in terms of occlusal reduction and marginal continuity, width, and position. Therefore, computer-aided design and manufacturing using abutment teeth by the students themselves seemed to increase their preparation skills for CAD/CAM composite crowns.
Conclusions: This practice system provides tangible educational benefit to preclinical students by imbuing them with a systematic understanding of the workflow of the CAD/CAM composite crown treatment, thereby improving their motivation for subjective learning.
