Improving surgical performance of free gingival graft harvesting through training and instruction
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The present study assessed the influence of training and instruction on fine motor skills in periodontal plastic surgery. METHODS: Undergraduate dental students (n = 41) at the University of Leuven were randomly assigned to four different training groups, each with varying training intervals and total durations. These students were further categorized into two learning approaches: implicit (n = 21) and explicit (n = 20). Initially, the unexperienced participants were tasked with harvesting a free gingival graft on an apple with specified dimensions. They were evaluated on following parameters: surgical outcome, efficiency, and execution. After a 3-week training period, participants repeated the technical test from baseline, with a surprise test featuring altered graft dimensions. RESULTS: All proposed aspects of surgical performance improved during training, including graft volumetric precision (p = 0.14), completion time (p = 0.05), and Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills scoring (p < 0.001). "Daily trainers" outperformed "weekly trainers," followed by "one-time trainers," with "zero trainers" showing the least improvement. Regarding instruction, the implicit learning approach solely demonstrated significantly reduced task completion time during the surprise test (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlighted the benefit of frequent training on surgical performance for novice trainees learning the execution of a specific periodontal procedure, while increased instruction intensity did not yield additional advantages.
Source: Journal of Dental Education
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.13813
Institution: KU Leuven
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4405916639