Correlation between Handwriting, Drawing Skills and Dental Skills of Junior Dental Students

Abstract

Learning fine motor skills is a pre-requisite for succeeding in dental practice and it is sometimes challenging for dental students. Most of the methods used in the selection process depend on evaluation of intellectual ability or structured interview while manual competence is not. However, no test on aptitude or manual dexterity is used as criteria. Objective:The purpose of the present study intended to evaluate the fine motor skills of beginning dental students which could in turn be used as a method of selection of students for the dental degree admission process. Materials and methods:A study was conducted among 71 second year dental students at College of Dentistry, King Saud University in Riyadh. A test composed of three parts, writing an answer for a question in four lines, drawing a picture of a smile and doing a class 1 amalgam preparation on a plastic molar tooth. The students were evaluated based on their handwriting, basic drawing skills and their skills in performing the tooth preparation by experts in each fields following certain criteria. Results:The results showed a significant correlation between writing and drawing skills and dental skills of the student with p < 0.001. Conclusions:The results of the current study support the use of the writing or drawing test as one of the test used for the applicants for dental school admission. However, the value given to such test in the selection of students needs further investigations and consensus.

Predictability of dental students’ performance in clinical courses based on their performance in pre‐clinical and academic courses

“…Additionally, students who perform very well in the practical courses might have average performance in the academic courses. This also indicates that the students’ manual skills impact their performance in the practical sessions, which confirms what previous investigators found about correlations between handwriting, wire bending, and waxing skills, and the practical performance of dental students 6,7,17,18 1 …”

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The impact of reflex‐based recreational activities and preclinical training on psychomotor skills in an educational dental environment

“…Of the 10 studies, five were performed in USA, 3,5,6,8,9 one in Europe, 10 one in Hong Kong, 11 one in Israel, 12 one in Thailand, 4 and one in Saudi Arabia. 13 The 10 included studies were observational cohort studies. From the compiled articles a total number of 1975 participants were included in this systematic review.…”

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