Effect of Interactive Teaching Methods on Removable Partial Denture Designing

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to, (a) Assess the level of skill acquired for designing removable partial dentures through two teaching methods individually, on two courses of dental graduates. (b) Compare the level of skill of dental graduates acquired through two teaching methods for designing removable partial dentures for diverse clinical situations. Materials and METHODOLOGY: This quasi-experimental study comprised of application of two interactive teaching methods over two courses of Dental students over a period of three years. Course I, (n=113) was assessed with a brainstorming session without a prior formal lecture. Course II (n=102) was exposed to an interactive lecture followed by a formative assessment of RPD deigning. Each participant was asked to design a removable partial denture for a clinical scenario. Assessment was based on specific satisfaction criteria. Data was analyzed descriptively and compared with student's t test. RESULTS: Out of all participants, 70 % of participants in course I and 63% percent from course II showed partial satisfaction. 8-15 % were able to achieve complete satisfactory scores. On comparison of two courses, mean total score in course I was 3.31 ± 1.21 and in course II mean total score was 3 ± 1.30, thus, p-value was 0.072, which was statistically insignificant. CONCLUSION: The level of skill acquired for designing a removable partial denture through two interactive teaching methods was only partially satisfactory for most participants of both courses. The level of skill acquired from brainstorming was comparable to the skill acquired from an interactive lecture. The difference of assessment scores in both scenarios was not statistically significant.