title: Comparison of digital scanning and polyvinyl siloxane impression techniques by dental students: instructional efficiency and attitudes towards technology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With increasing use of digital scanning with restorative procedures in the dental office, it becomes necessary that educational institutions adopt instructional methodology for introducing this technology together with conventional impression techniques.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the time differences between instructing dental students on digital scanning (DS) (LAVA C.O.S. digital impression system) and a conventional impression technique (CI) (polyvinyl siloxane), and to compare students' attitudes and beliefs towards both techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  Volunteer sophomore dental students (n = 25) with no prior experience in clinical impressions were recruited and IRB consent obtained. Participants responded to a pre-and post-exposure questionnaire. Participants were instructed on the use of both DS and CI for a single tooth full coverage crown restoration using a consecutive sequence of video lecture, investigator-led demonstration and independent impression exercise. The time necessary for each step (minutes) was recorded. Statistical significance was calculated using dependent t-tests (time measurements) and 2-sample Mann-Whitney (questionnaire responses).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The time spent teaching students was greater for DS than CI for video lecture (15.95 and 10.07 min, P = 0.0000), demonstration time (9.06 and 4.70 min, P = 0.0000) and impression time (18.17 and 8.59 min, P = 0.0000). Prior to the instruction and practice, students considered themselves more familiar with CI (3.96) than DS (1.96) (P = 0.0000). After the instruction and practice, participants reported CI technique proved significantly easier than expected (pre-instruction: 3.52 and post-instruction: 4.08, P = 0.002). However, overall participants' perception of ease of use for DS was not influenced by this instruction and practice experience (pre-instruction: 3.84 and post-instruction: 3.56, P = 0.106). Despite the results, 96% of participants expressed an expectation that DS will become their predominant impression technique during their careers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental students with no clinical experience have high expectations for digital scanning, and despite their initial difficulty, expect it to become their primary impression technique during their professional futures. The instructional time necessary for introducing DS into the curriculum is significantly greater than CI in both classroom (lecture) and clinical simulation settings (investigator-led demonstration).
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Biology, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Marti
authors.affiliation: Division of Prosthodontics, Department of Oral Health and Rehabilitation, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of General Dentistry and Oral Medicine, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics, Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.affiliation: Radiology and Imaging Science, Department of Surgical/Hospital Dentistry, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Scarfe
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.affiliation: Division of Prosthodontics, Department of Oral Health and Rehabilitation, University of Louisville School of Dentistry, Louisville, KY, USA.
authors.forename: W-S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003442:Crowns; D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D003761:Dental Impression Technique; D004497:Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008348:Manikins; D003765:Models, Dental; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012833:Siloxanes; D013335:Students, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012833:Siloxanes; C034183:vinyl polysiloxane
keywords: attitudes towards technology; conventional impression; digital scanning; fixed prosthodontics; instructional efficiency