The effect of 3D-printed plastic teeth on scores in a tooth morphology course in a Chinese university
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
The effect of 3D-printed plastic teeth on scores in a tooth morphology course in a Chinese university Helin Wang1†, Haokun Xu2†, Junhua Zhang1, Shibin Yu1, Meiqing Wang1, Jun Qiu2* and Mian Zhang1*
Abstract Background: The tooth morphology course is an important basic dental course. However, it is difficult to fully reflect the three-dimensional (3D) morphological characteristics of tooth structure in two-dimensional pictures in traditional textbooks. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of 3D-printed plastic model teeth in the teaching of tooth morphology. Methods: Twenty-two undergraduate students who matriculated at the School of Stomatology, the Fourth Medical University, in 2014 and 23 who matriculated in 2016 participated in the study. Each student who matriculated in 2016 was given a full set of fourteen standard 3D-printed plastic model teeth for use during the learning process, and an anonymous questionnaire was used to evaluate the usefulness of the 3D-printed plastic model teeth from the perspective of the students. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in the scores of the theoretical examination or the total score. However, for the score of the sculpted gypsum teeth, the students who used the 3D-printed plastic model teeth in their studies scored significantly higher (P = 0.002). More than 90% of the students thought that the 3D-printed plastic model teeth were of great help or were very helpful for mastering the anatomy of teeth and for carving the gypsum teeth. Conclusion: Standard 3D-printed plastic teeth can effectively assist students in learning tooth morphology by transforming two-dimensional pictures and descriptions in the textbook into a 3D conformation, effectively promoting students’ learning and mastery of tooth morphology and structure. Additionally, the results suggest that 3D-printed plastic model teeth are of great help to the students in mastering and improving their carving skills.
Background The tooth morphology course is an important basic stomatology course that mainly covers the composition, classification and anatomical features of a single tooth [1]. To master tooth morphology, students need to actually carve * Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] † Helin Wang and Haokun Xu contributed equally to this work. 2 Department of Medical Education, The Third Affiliated Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University, 145 Changlexi Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi, China 1 State Key Laboratory of Military Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Shaanxi International Joint Research Center for Oral Diseases, Department of Oral Anatomy and Physiology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University, 145 Changlexi Road, Xi’an 710032, Shaanxi, China
gypsum or wax to deepen their understanding of the characteristic shape of each tooth, establish a 3D concept of teeth, and improve their carving skills for future clinical courses (such as dental pros
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