title: Mental training in dentistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Since fine-motor movements and complex procedures, which are often necessary in dental practice, can be compared to those used by professional athletes, the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the mental training technique, established in sport science, on dentistry.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a randomized, controlled study, 2 groups of 20 and 21 dental students in their second semester (experimental group with mental training, and control group with conventional training, respectively), were evaluated at 2 time points (pre- and posttest) by measuring the effect of training by the criteria "knowledge," "process," and "quality" of a crown preparation on the computer-assisted Dental-Simulator (DenX).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The improvements of the experimental group and of the control group from pre- to posttest could be distinguished for all criteria in favor of the experimental group, in which improvements of knowledge (F1,39 = 72.674, P <.001) and process (F1,39 = 6.63, P = .01) were statistically significantly better.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significantly greater improvements of the experimental group regarding knowledge and process compared to the control group indicate that the improvement in learning and performance caused by mental training is detectable in dental education, especially with regard to cognitive aspects of dental procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Restorative Dentistry, Periodontology, and Endodontology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. welk@uni-greifswald.de <welk@uni-greifswald.de>
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Welk
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Immenroth
authors.forename: Petar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sakic
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eberspächer
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019246:Tooth Preparation / Q000379:methods*