Academic Effectiveness of Non-face-to-face Classes in Deciduous Tooth Morphology Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to evaluate the academic effectiveness of non–face-to-face classes in deciduous tooth morphology practice. Under the course name dental morphology, a total of 60 dental students took face-to-face classes while 55 pre-dental students took non-face-to-face classes. Students were required to submit their practical assignments after 5 weeks of practical classes. To evaluate the academic effectiveness of non-faceto- face classes, practical assignments were scored by an evaluator and compared with face-to-face classes using the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test. The results showed that the practical score in face-to-face classes was 77.43 ± 5.97 and the practical score in non-face-to-face classes was 76.04 ± 5.83. There was no significant difference in the academic effectiveness of face-to-face classes compared to non-faceto- face classes in deciduous tooth morphology practice (p > 0.05). This study suggests that non-face-to-face classes on introductory practice such as the dental morphology course can provide comparable quality to the education taught in traditional face-toface classes.