Digital Undergraduate Education in Dentistry: A Systematic Review

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate current penetration and educational quality enhancements from digitalization in the dental curriculum. Using a modified PICO strategy, the literature was searched using PubMed supplemented with a manual search to identify English-language articles published between 1994 and 2020 that reported the use of digital techniques in dental education. A total of 211 articles were identified by electronic search, of which 55 articles were selected for inclusion and supplemented with 27 additional publications retrieved by manual search, resulting in 82 studies that were included in the review. Publications were categorized into five areas of digital dental education: Web-based knowledge transfer and e-learning, digital surface mapping, dental simulator motor skills (including intraoral optical scanning), digital radiography, and surveys related to the penetration and acceptance of digital education. This review demonstrates that digitalization offers great potential to revolutionize dental education to help prepare future dentists for their daily practice. More interactive and intuitive e-learning possibilities will arise to stimulate an enjoyable and meaningful educational experience with 24/7 facilities. Augmented and virtual reality technology will likely play a dominant role in the future of dental education.

Role of ambient light in the detection of contrast elements in digital dental radiography

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different ambient light levels on observer detection of small contrast differences in a contrast phantom by using a high-end liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor.

STUDY DESIGN

An aluminum step wedge was converted into a contrast phantom by the addition of bore holes. Radiographic images of the contrast elements were presented to 20 observers. Images were displayed in random order under different ambient light levels (0, 50, 200, and 500 lux) twice, and the observers had to determine if contrast elements were visible. Sensitivity and specificity were determined to calculate areas under receiver operating characteristic curves and Friedmann's test was applied to evaluate the influence of the ambient light level on observer performance.

RESULTS

Mean AZ values were moderate for each ambient light level at 0.715, 0.793, 0.764, and 0.722 for 0, 50, 200, and 500 lux, respectively. The influence of the ambient light level on observer performance was not statistically significant (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

There was no significant influence of ambient light between 0 and 500 lux on observer ability to detect small contrast details displayed on a high-end LCD monitor.