TOOTH CARVING SESSIONS AND PERCEPTION OF DENTAL STUDENTS’ REGARDING UNDERSTANDING OF TOOTH MORPHOLOGY

The study was aimed at study the perception of dental students at Baqai dental college regarding tooth carving sessions and how it is helpful in developing their understanding and skills of the subject of tooth morphology. Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Baqai Dental College. The self-administered survey questionnaire was provided to the students of 2nd year to final year and House Officers who volunteered for the study. The purpose of the study was explained to them and consent was taken. The sample size was calculated using Openepi with a confidence interval of 95%. 200 subjects filled in the questionnaire. The first year BDS students were not included in the study as the subject of Dental Anatomy & Tooth Morphology is taught in 2nd year and they have no exposure to the subject. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS-20. Results: Out of 200 participants, 3rd year students were more in number among the participants and lesser number of participants were from 2nd year BDS. More than 80% of the participants strongly agreed that carving sessions improved their understanding of tooth morphology. Among them majority was of the house officers (94%), who agreed to it. More than 70% reported these exercises to be helpful in developing knowledge of 3D structure of tooth and manual dexterity. 56.5% of participants stated the feedback provided was beneficial. The majority of house officers acknowledge the effectiveness of feedback provided for the carving session, whereas majority of the responders from 2nd year to final year have not found it as much useful. About 2/3rd of the participants (66.7%) acknowledged the carving exercises to be useful in all (most of them from 2 nd year BDS-78.3%). Conclusion: The carving sessions do assist to improve knowledge and psychomotor skills for the subject of tooth Morphology. The results may be used to support an idea of including tooth carving exercises as a formal component of skill sessions of the subject of Dental anatomy and Tooth Morphology. Key Words: Tooth carving, tooth morphology, dental anatomy, wax sculpture