title: Students' perceptions of pre-clinical endodontic training with artificial teeth compared to extracted human teeth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Artificial teeth have several advantages in pre-clinical endodontics training. This study aimed to compare artificial resin teeth with extracted human teeth, from a student's perspective, during a pre-clinical undergraduate endodontic course for three consecutive academic years (2011-2014).
  
  
  METHODS
  At the end of the course, students completed a questionnaire that included questions about their perceptions of the difficulty of artificial teeth vs. natural teeth and ranked the perceived advantages of artificial teeth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants expressed that all procedures, except obturation, were more difficult to perform on artificial teeth than on natural teeth, a result that was due to the hardness of the resin. They ranked the fairness and availability as the best advantages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Artificial teeth have multiple advantages but cannot replace natural teeth. The physical characteristics through the manufacturing material of artificial teeth should be enhanced to increase wider use and acceptance.
authors: Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: D I
authors: DI
authors: Al-Sudani
authors: Department of Restorative Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors: S O
authors: SO
authors: Basudan
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D004708:Endodontics / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057566:Self Report; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D014070:Tooth; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D014093:Tooth, Artificial; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: artificial teeth; dental education; endodontics; extracted teeth; pre-clinical teaching