International Journal of Computerized Dentistry, 02/2004

Apart from a requirement to acquire more and more academic knowledge, during their training, dental students need to acquire a full range of highly precise manual and technical skills, including excellent hand/eye coordination, to enable them to visualize and understand how to prepare cavities, prior to placing restorations. Furthermore, unlike medical students, dental students are in the position of administering treatment to patients very early in their training. The increasing academic workload means that these skills have to be mastered in a short space of time. This you will gain in the future only through the use of effective methods of the educations - for example by the use of the computer-assisted dental simulators (DentSim/DenX), which serves the visual-, audio- and practical learning channel simultaneously. Unlike the conventional phantom heads, the DentSim-unit has the following advantages - the acquisition of knowledge takes place in a multimedia learning environment with a high audio-visual content and degree of interaction and complexity, - problem-oriented learning takes place through clinically relevant work, - individual students can work to personalized programs through the digital tutor function, - two-dimensional knowledge is transferred into three-dimensional spatial work, - three-dimensional preparations can be easily analysed by two-dimensional error analysis. - all preparation exercises are recorded for error and effectiveness analysis. Apart from student training, the computer- assisted simulators can also be used for the evaluation of the effectiveness or the quality control of various teaching methods in the context of Evidence Based Dental Education. Keywords: computer-assisted dental simulator, dental simulation, computer- assisted preparation exercises, digital tutor function, problem-oriented learning, evidence based dental education

Virtual reality-based preclinical simulation learning is a new teaching modality with significant potential. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Dentistry has completed its first year of student experience using 40 DentSim simulators, in conjunction with an 80-unit traditional simulation laboratory. This article describes this experience and relates both the positive and negative aspects as they impacted on the students, staff, and school. The purpose of the article is to relay information pertinent to this new educational modality to other educational institutes interested in pursuing virtual reality dental simulation. The results of the first-year experience were encouraging, although certain areas proved problematic and frustrating for both students and staff. Keywords: dental simulation, virtual reality, preclinical laboratory, DentSim, one-year experience, software, student experience

A glance at the history of distance learning shows that there is a long tradition of using contemporary technical resources for learning and teaching purposes. For some, the holy grail of distance learning is the concept of the industrialization (mass production) of teaching and learning. Although reality has time and again caught up with technological promise, the scope for using new information and communication technologies in teaching has frequently been disregarded. In the future, learning will entail handling organized knowledge resources in demandspecific, organized communities formed for finding solutions to distinct problems and generating new knowledge about learning processes within the problem solving process. The development of the potential of "e-learning" (and actually, it bears contemplating whether this term puts too much emphasis on conventional learning organized in temporally-limited courses or similar, to the detriment of intelligent management of knowledge in its own working context) will depend upon the extent to which organizations succeed in promoting the development of a learning and working culture, for example, by incentive systems, team promotion, and free access to knowledge resources. The Masters degree in Organization Studies is presented against this background as an example of teaching using a combination of resources, leading to undreamed of learning success. Keywords: e-learning, distance learning, didactics, continuing education

This article describes the development and application of new didactic methods for use in computer-assisted teaching and learning systems for training doctors and dentists. Taking theMeducase project as an example, didactic models and their technological implementation are explained, together with the limitations of imparting knowledge with the "new media". In addition, legal concepts for a progressive, pragmatic, and innovative distribution of knowledge to undergraduate students are presented. In conclusion, potential and visions for the wide use of electronic learning in the German and European universities in the future are discussed. Self-directed learning (SDL) is a key component in both undergraduate education and lifelong learning for medical practitioners. E-learning can already be used to promote SDL at undergraduate level. The Meducase project uses self-directed, constructive, case- and problem-oriented learning within a learning platform for medical and dental students. In the long run, e-learning programs can only be successful in education if there is consistent analysis and implementation of valueadded factors and the development and use of media-didactic concepts matched to electronic learning. The use of innovative forms of licensing - open source licenses for software and similar licenses for content - facilitates continuous, free access to these programs for all students and teachers. These legal concepts offer the possibility of innovative knowledge distribution, quality assurance and standardization across specializations, university departments, and possibly even national borders. Keywords: problem-based learning, didactics, patient simulation, e-learning, medicine, self-directed learning, educational technology, computerbased, dentistry, simulation

Since 2001, an interdisciplinary project on multimedia education in medicine has been sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research at the Charité. One part of the project is on dentistry. In the light of the results of a survey of dental students, an Internet-based education management system was created using open-source back-end systems. It supports four didactic levels for editing documentation of patient treatments. Each level corresponds to the learning abilities of the students. The patient documentation is organized to simulate the working methods of a physician or dentist. The system was tested for the first time by students in the summer semester of 2003 and has been used since the winter semester of 2003 as part of the curriculum. Keywords: patient-orientated learning, education management system, network- based, open source, e-learning

Scientific databases are generally accessible to the public via the Internet. Reports of most peer-reviewed (quotable) research is thus available to researchers and others. However, other reports and information of interest to researchers and teachers such as poster presentations at congresses, articles describing techniques and teaching material, and details of vocational and continuing education courses (nonquotable literature) generally do not appear in such databases. This nonquotable literature is often of great use to teachers. A project was therefore initiated at theMünster Dental Clinic which aimed to address the problem by developing a database of all publications and other printed material produced by the staff (faculty). After a systematic search, all such publications (quotable and nonquotable) were entered in the database which is partially accessible via the Internet and fully accessible via the Münster Dental Clinic's Intranet. The complete list can be found in the protected Intranet areas, which can be accessed by all the Dental Clinic's staff members. The database also permits Münster Clinic staff to access the Internet and locate those publications that are on the Internet by year of publication and topic. Keywords: Internet, Intranet, database, publication management, scientific research

Learning the widely differing forms of tooth preparation, especially in restorative dentistry, places high demands on both trainees and instructors with regard to precision, reproducibility, assessment, evaluation and three-dimensional conceptualization. In the past, evaluation of such preparations has been against subjective parameters and their interpretation by the assessor (usually the instructor). The use of CAD systems in teaching seminars and courses allows an objective assessment of tooth preparations and offers the trainee the possibility of measuring him/herself against a standard, of detecting errors, and of achieving perfection in the required tasks. The PREPassistant system described in this article is one such CAD-assisted learning system. It is recommended both for students in dental schools and for the continuing education of established dentists. Its strengths are that it produces a design for a tooth preparation, enables exact comparison with an ideal preparation, detects errors, and promotes improvements and perfection. Keywords: preparation control, computerized preparation, CAD assisted teaching

The present article describes the procedure for inserting a Cerec 3D crown on an implant. The current software version R1503 and the new VITA Mark II TriLuxe blocks are used in this case. Keywords: Cerec, Cerec 3D, crown, implant, bite impression, TriLuxe