Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2004
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Dental Education
Volume
68
Issue
8
First Page
867
Last Page
871
Date of Submission
March 2015
Abstract
Tooth Morphology is a computer-assisted learning program designed to teach the anatomy of the adult dentition. The purpose of this study was to test whether Tooth Morphology could teach dental anatomy to first-year dental students as well as the traditional lecture. A randomized controlled trial was performed with forty-five first-year dental students. The students were randomly assigned to either the Tooth Morphology group (n=23), which used the computer-assisted learning program and did not attend lecture, or the lecture group (n=22), which attended the traditional lecture and did not useTooth Morphology. The Tooth Morphology group had a final exam average of 90.0 (standard deviation=5.2), and the lecture group had a final exam average of 90.9 (sd=5.3). Analysis showed that the two groups’ scores were statistically equivalent (p<0.05), with a priori equivalence bounds around the difference between the groups set at +/−5 points. It was concluded that Tooth Morphology taught the anatomy of the adult dentition as well as traditional lecture, as measured by exams. Based on the results of this study and student feedback, Tooth Morphology, in combination with interactive class meetings, has replaced the traditional dental anatomy lectures.
Rights
Reprinted by permission of Journal of Dental Education, Volume 68, 8 (August 2004). Copyright 2004 by the American Dental Education Association.
Is Part Of
VCU Periodontics Publications
Comments
The Instructional Development Center of Virginia Commonwealth University provided support for supplies for this project.