The role of basic sciences in diagnostic oral radiology.

Although it is generally taken for granted that dental education must include both basic science and feature-based knowledge components, little is known about their relative roles in visual interpretation of radiographs. The objectives of this study were twofold. First, we sought to compare the educational efficacy of three learning strategies in diagnostic radiology: one that used basic scientific (pathophysiologic) information, one that used feature lists structured with an organizational tool, and one that used unstructured feature lists. Our second objective was to determine whether basic scientific information provides conceptual coherence or is merely a simple means for organizing feature-based knowledge. Predoctoral dental and undergraduate dental hygiene students (n=96) were randomly assigned into three groups (basic science, structured algorithm, and feature list) and were taught four confusable intrabony entities. The students completed diagnostic and memory tests immediately after learning and one week later, and these data were subjected to a 3x2 repeated measures ANOVA. For the diagnostic test, students in the basic science group outperformed those assigned to the feature list and structured algorithm groups on immediate and delayed testing (p<0.05). A main effect of learning condition was found to be significant. On the memory test, performance was similar across all three groups, and no significant effects were found. The results of this study support the critical role of basic scientific knowledge in diagnostic radiology. This study also refutes the organized learning theory and provides support for the conceptual coherence theory as a possible explanation for the process by which basic science aids in diagnosis.