Manual dexterity in dentistry: Development and evaluation of a preclinical training program

• Autor(a) principal: Neves, Tamíris da Costa [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Pazos, Júlia Margato [UNESP], Genaro, Luis Eduardo [UNESP], Hallak, Julia Carrer [UNESP], Garcia, Patrícia P. N. S. [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jdd.13233; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/247323
• topic: dental students; manual dexterity; self-confidence

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the effect of a manual dexterity training program on manual dexterity, perception of self-confidence, quality of cavity preparations, and ergonomic work posture of dental students prior to preclinical training. Methods: Students in the first year of the undergraduate dentistry program (N = 63) participated in this study. The program consisted of eight phases in which students performed different types of activities. The dependent variables were: manual dexterity assessed by the modified Dental Manual Dexterity Assessment; self-confidence to perform a preclinical procedure using the VAS scale; quality of Class I cavity preparation; angular deviation from the neutral position of the neck, trunk, wrist and distance between the student's eyes and the mannequin's tooth. These variables were evaluated at two different times: before and after the application of the program. The independent variable was the preclinical manual dexterity training program. After meeting the assumption of normality, the paired t-Student test was performed, the significance level was 5%. Results: The results showed a statistically significant difference in relation to manual dexterity (p < 0.001), self-confidence (p < 0.001), quality of cavity preparations (p < 0.001), distance from the eyes of the student/mannequin (p < 0.001), deviation angle of the neutral position of the trunk (p = 0.007) and wrists (p < 0.001), with better results in posttraining. Conclusion: It was possible to conclude that, in general, the proposed training positively influenced the self-confidence, dexterity, quality of work, and ergonomics of the evaluated students.