Evaluation of Prosthetic Procedural Skills in Senior Dental Students Using the Self-Assessment Method

Introduction: Student self-assessment is one of the methods of assessing procedural skills that complements existing assessments in dentistry. This study was designed to evaluate prosthetic procedural skills in senior dental students using the self-assessment method. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the level of practical skills of 127 senior dental students of Yazd, Esfahan and Kashan faculties were selected and their procedural skills were assessed by a researcher-made questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through content validity and its reliability through Cronbach's alpha test (r=0.8).To analyze the data, SPSS 16 statistical software and t-test, Chi-square, ANOVA and non-parametric statistical tests were used at the significance level of 0.05. Results: Dental students with a mean age of (25.15 ±1.74) were included in this study. The mean of procedural skills score was 115.51 ±11.78 out of 175, which was at an average level. Procedural skills score was not significantly associated with age, gender, marriage, entrance exam rank, university, the level of anxiety during prosthetic application (P>0.05), but the mean score of procedural skills in complete and partial prosthesis was significantly higher in people who interested in prosthesis (P˂ 0.05). Conclusion: Due to the limitations of the present study, the procedural skills levels in dental prosthesis of senior dental students of Yazd, Esfahan and Kashan faculties was evaluated at an average level. Revision of curriculum- based teaching methods in clinical departments and implementation of new methods for evaluating procedural skills such as DOPS test can be effective in improving the level of clinical skills of learners.