title: Predoctoral Dental Students' Perceptions of Dental Implant Training: Effect of Preclinical Simulation and Clinical Experience.
abstract: The aims of this study were to assess 1) differences in perceptions of dental implant training between dental students who received didactic training alone (control group) and those who received didactic plus simulation training (test group); 2) differences in response between students with and without clinical experience in implant dentistry; and 3) the interaction effect of simulation training and clinical experience on students' satisfaction. A survey was distributed to the control group in 2014 and to the test group in 2015; both groups were at the same U.S. dental school. Data were collected on confidence levels with various implant restorative procedures along with overall satisfaction and number of implant restorations performed by each student. The response rate was 78.7% in the control group and 81.3% in the test group. In the control group, 85.7% of students reported being satisfied with implant training compared to 90.8% of students in the test group. The interaction effect of simulation training and clinical experience on overall student satisfaction was OR=1.5 at 95% CI: 0.8, 3.0. The students who had clinical experience with implant restorative procedures had significantly greater satisfaction than those who did not (OR=4.8, 95% CI: 2.1, 11.1, p<0.01). This study found that both the simulation and clinical experience affected these students' confidence and satisfaction levels with implant education: they were almost five times more satisfied with implant training when clinical experience in implant restorative procedures was a part of their implant education.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Prasad is Assistant Professor, Department of General Dental Science, Marquette University School of Dentistry; and Dr. Bansal is Professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University. soni.prasad@marquette.edu.
authors.forename: Soni
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Dr. Prasad is Assistant Professor, Department of General Dental Science, Marquette University School of Dentistry; and Dr. Bansal is Professor, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bansal
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003757:Dental Implantation / Q000193:education*; D015921:Dental Implants; D006801:Humans; D016544:Patient Simulation; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: dental education; dental implants; implant training; preclinical simulation