Introducing a novel educational training programme in dental implantology for pregraduate dental students

Introduction: This study aimed to determine whether implant surgery procedures can be implemented in the dental curriculum by designing novel courses for students. Additionally, this study assesses the perception of these courses and how they can be established in the future.

Materials and methods: Students from the third to fifth years participated in a programme consisting of 4 modules according to their academic year. The modules taught theoretical and practical content as well as clinical references. After participating, the students completed two questionnaires with research questions (RQ1 = evaluation of the relevance and effects; RQ2 = impact of modules 3 and 4) to evaluate the programme. The questionnaires consisted of 52 statements, each rated on a 6-point scale (1 'totally disagree' to 6 'totally agree'). Cronbach's alpha analysis was used, and median values, interquartile ranges and Pearson correlations (p-value) were statistically calculated.

Results: In total, 94 students completed the questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha exceeded 0.7 for all constructs except for one (skills training). The highest evaluated median was 6, and the lowest was 4.75. Pearson correlations were significant (<0.05) for perceived importance/lectures, perceived importance/tutor performance, lectures/skills training, skills training/tutor performance and tutor performance/lectures. Seventeen analysed free comments expressed strong interest in implantology courses for the curriculum. 88% of the students wished for more practical exercises in dental implantology during the curriculum or suggested expanding the programme in the future.

Conclusion: The programme was highly accepted among dental students. The students wished for more practice in the future to perform supervised procedures on patients.