@Article{info:doi/10.2196/44989,
author="Frank, Ariadne Charis
and Jennrich, Linda
and Kanzow, Philipp
and Wiegand, Annette
and Krantz-Sch{\"a}fers, Christiane",
title="A Sex-Specific Evaluation of Dental Students' Ability to Perform Subgingival Debridement: Randomized Trial",
journal="JMIR Med Educ",
year="2023",
month="Apr",
day="28",
volume="9",
pages="e44989",
keywords="dental; dental education; dentist; education; gender; periodontics; preclinical education; root debridement; sex; student",
abstract="Background: A successful periodontitis treatment demands good manual skills. A correlation between biological sex and dental students' manual dexterity is currently unknown. Objective: This study examines performance differences between male and female students within subgingival debridement. Methods: A total of 75 third-year dental students were divided by biological sex (male/female) and randomly assigned to one of two work methods (manual curettes n=38; power-driven instruments n=37). Students were trained on periodontitis models for 25 minutes daily over 10 days using the assigned manual or power-driven instrument. Practical training included subgingival debridement of all tooth types on phantom heads. Practical exams were performed after the training session (T1) and after 6 months (T2), and comprised subgingival debridement of four teeth within 20 minutes. The percentage of debrided root surface was assessed and statistically analyzed using a linear mixed-effects regression model (P<.05). Results: The analysis is based on 68 students (both groups n=34). The percentage of cleaned surfaces was not significantly different (P=.40) between male (mean 81.6{\%}, SD 18.2{\%}) and female (mean 76.3{\%}, SD 21.1{\%}) students, irrespective of the instrument used. The use of power-driven instruments (mean 81.3{\%}, SD 20.5{\%}) led to significantly better results than the use of manual curettes (mean 75.4{\%}, SD 19.4{\%}; P=.02), and the overall performance decreased over time (T1: mean 84.5{\%}, SD 17.5{\%}; T2: mean 72.3{\%}, SD 20.8{\%}; P<.001). Conclusions: Female and male students performed equally well in subgingival debridement. Therefore, sex-differentiated teaching methods are not necessary. ",
issn="2369-3762",
doi="10.2196/44989",
url="https://mededu.jmir.org/2023/1/e44989",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/44989",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37002956"
}