Identifying and implementing effective methods for assessing dental student performance are ongoing challenges for dental educators. Questions related to grading and assessment are common among faculty and students alike. Faculty members who are well-trained clinicians or scientists often have little formal training in education. In addition, assessment of performance brings with it an element of subjectivity. Questions about assessment and grading are most likely to arise when expectations are unclear or the rationale for the grade awarded is not articulated. The authors propose that one solution to assessment dilemmas can be found in the use of rubrics: scaled tools with levels of achievement and clearly deined criteria placed in a grid. Rubrics establish clear rules for evaluation and deine the criteria for performance. Rubrics speak to both teaching and learning expectations and outcomes and can provide faculty members with a tool that can be useful in evaluating dental student performance. Rubrics can also provide students with clear expectations of performance, an opportunity to self-assess, and timely, detailed feedback. The purpose of this article is to deine a rubric, apply the steps of rubric development as described in the educational literature to dental student assessment, present two examples of rubric implementation for assessing student progress toward competence, and recommend electronic resources for rubric development.Dr. O'Donnell is Associate Dean,

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Endodontic access preparation does not appear to affect fracture resistance of an anterior lithium disilicate restoration, suggesting that replacement may not be necessary. Fabrication technique had a significant effect on fracture resistance and fracture mode of lithium disilicate restorations. The pressed fabrication technique resulted in significantly greater crown strength and fracture resistance than the milled technique.

To date, there has been a lack of published studies examining the validity of the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) to assess critical thinking among dental students. The aim of this study was to examine the construct validity of the HSRT using a novice-expert model consisting of first-year dental students as novices and experienced general dentists as experts. Novice cohort subjects were recruited from all 105 students in the first-year dental school class at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio during a regularly scheduled course in August 2015. A total of 83 students participated, for a 79% response rate. Thirty individuals personally recruited from the same school's faculty and from private practitioners made up the expert cohort. The results showed that the adjusted mean overall score for the expert cohort (25.31) was significantly higher than that of the novice cohort (22.64) (p=0.04). The expert cohort achieved higher adjusted mean scores in all scales (Induction, Deduction, Analysis, Inference, and Evaluation), with the difference in the Analysis scale being significant (p=0.02). In this study, experienced general dentists achieved significantly better overall scores on the HSRT as compared to first-year dental students, suggesting the instrument was able to measure differences between novice and expert. Further efforts to validate the instrument in a dental education setting and to understand its correlation with strategies and practices aimed at developing critical thinking in dental students are warranted.

Since it was first introduced into the dental world, computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology has improved dramatically in regards to both data acquisition and fabrication abilities. CAD/CAM is capable of providing well-fitting intra- and extraoral prostheses when sound guidelines are followed. As CAD/CAM technology encompasses both surgical and prosthetic dental applications as well as fixed and removable aspects, it could improve the average quality of dental prostheses compared with the results obtained by conventional manufacturing methods. The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction into the methods in which this technology may be used to enhance the wear and fracture resistance of dentures and overdentures. This article will also showcase two clinical reports in which CAD/CAM technology has been implemented.