Education, OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination), Tooth Extraction
Conditions
Keywords
tooth extraction, education, OSCE
Brief summary
This study aims to compare two different educational and assessment approaches used for teaching pre-extraction clinical evaluation skills to undergraduate dental students. Before performing a simple tooth extraction, students are expected to obtain a medical history, identify systemic risk factors, determine extraction indications, communicate effectively with patients, and make appropriate clinical decisions. Participants will be assigned to either an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)-based educational approach or a traditional teaching and assessment approach. Students' clinical performance, communication skills, clinical reasoning abilities, learning satisfaction, self-confidence, and examination-related anxiety will be evaluated and compared between groups. The findings of this study are expected to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of OSCE in undergraduate dental education and contribute to the development of more effective training and assessment strategies for clinical competency acquisition.
Detailed description
Simple tooth extraction is one of the most frequently performed procedures in dental practice. Although the technical aspects of extraction are important, successful patient management requires accurate medical history taking, identification of systemic risk factors, appropriate treatment planning, clinical decision-making, and effective communication with patients. Deficiencies in these competencies may adversely affect patient safety and treatment outcomes. Traditional educational approaches in dental schools primarily focus on theoretical knowledge and may not adequately provide opportunities for students to demonstrate and apply their knowledge in realistic clinical scenarios. Consequently, variations may occur among students regarding diagnostic reasoning, risk assessment, communication skills, and clinical decision-making. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a structured and standardized assessment method widely used in health professions education. OSCE enables students to demonstrate clinical competencies through scenario-based stations that simulate real-life patient encounters. Previous studies have shown that OSCE can improve students' clinical performance, decision-making abilities, and educational satisfaction while providing a more objective assessment of clinical competence. However, concerns regarding examination-related anxiety and the resource-intensive nature of OSCE remain subjects of ongoing investigation. The present study aims to compare an OSCE-based educational and assessment model with a traditional teaching and assessment approach in the context of pre-extraction clinical evaluation. The educational content focuses on competencies required before performing a simple tooth extraction, including patient history taking, identification of systemic conditions that may affect treatment, determination of extraction indications, patient communication, informed consent procedures, and clinical reasoning. Students participating in the study will receive training according to their assigned educational method. Following the educational intervention, participants will be evaluated using standardized assessment tools. Primary outcomes will include measures of clinical competency and performance related to pre-extraction patient evaluation. Secondary outcomes will include learning satisfaction, self-confidence in learning, and examination-related anxiety. By examining both educational effectiveness and learner perceptions, this study seeks to determine whether OSCE-based training offers advantages over traditional educational approaches in developing clinical competencies required for safe and effective dental practice. The findings may contribute to evidence-based improvements in undergraduate dental curricula and provide additional data regarding the implementation of OSCE in dental education programs.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
Kırıkkale University
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Weeks to 25 Weeks
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Fourth-year student enrolled in the Faculty of Dentistry. * Completion of theoretical and practical training in tooth extraction. * Age 18-25 years. * Voluntary agreement to participate and provision of informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
* Enrollment in an academic year other than the fourth year or at another university. * Refusal to participate or withdrawal of informed consent.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Outcome Measure | 1. day | Title: Clinical performance score Description: Clinical performance will be evaluated immediately after the assessment using the Global Rating Scale (GRS). The GRS assesses history taking, risk assessment, clinical reasoning, decision-making, patient communication, and overall clinical competence. Scores range from 1 to 5 for each domain, with higher scores indicating better clinical performance. Time Frame: Immediately after assessment (Day 1) |
| State anxiety level | Immediately before and immediately after assessment (Day 1) | State anxiety will be measured before and after the assessment using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - State Form (STAI-I). Total scores range from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater state anxiety. |
| Student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning | Immediately after the educational intervention (Day 1) | Student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning will be evaluated immediately after the educational intervention using the Turkish version of the 12-item Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning Scale. The scale consists of 12 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with total scores ranging from 12 to 60. Higher scores indicate greater student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary Outcome Measure | 2 weeks after the educational intervention | Knowledge retention will be assessed 2 weeks after the educational intervention using the Global Rating Scale (GRS). Students will evaluate a standardized clinical case similar to that used during training. The GRS rates each domain on a 5-point scale (1 = lowest performance, 5 = highest performance). Higher scores indicate better knowledge retention. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Outcome results
None listed