Evaluation of Students’ Opinion on Local Anesthesia Education and Efficiency of Conduction Anesthesia Model in Dentistry
7tepe Klinik. 2023;19(3):204-212.
ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of training on the Conduction Anesthesia Model, and to evaluate dental students' demand for and perception of local anesthesia education.
Materials and Method: A 14-item questionnaire was manually administered to the students who had performed local anesthesia at least once. In all, 123 complete answers were obtained. The percentage distributions of the variables were examined for groups that trained and did not train with mannequin models. To analyze group differences, the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparing two groups; the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparing three or more groups. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.
Results: Students who trained with mannequin models considered themselves significantly more effectively educated (p = 0.036). Considering the anxiety levels of students towards their first experience performing anesthesia, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups (p = 0.070). The students who used mannequin models indicated they felt the least confident in performing tuber anesthesia, while the other group said the same about inferior alveolar nerve anesthesia. The areas in which students performing dental anesthesia for the first time were most likely to feel inadequate were anatomy, complication management, pharmacology, patient communication, and legal considerations. Students who did not perform dental anesthesia on mannequin models felt significantly less qualified with regard to legal considerations (p = 0.034).
Conclusions: It is crucial that we listen to dental students in order to better understand what must be done to improve dental education. Although the contribution of training on mannequin models to the success of students is unknown, training models seem to positively affect students' perceptions of education.
KEYWORDS
local anesthesia education · mannequin model training · undergraduate clinic · conduction anesthesia model
STUDY SUMMARY
This questionnaire study collected 123 complete responses from dental students who had administered local anaesthesia at least once, comparing those who had trained on a conduction anaesthesia mannequin model with those who had not. Students who trained on the model rated their practical education significantly higher and reported different areas of low confidence, while anxiety before the first clinical anaesthesia did not differ significantly between the groups. The outcomes are students' own perceptions; the study does not measure clinical performance.