ArticleEuropean journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe2026
3D Surface Analysis as a Method to Evaluate Progress of Students' Restorative Skills Over Time.
Article in European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDigital scanning technology in dental education is on the rise offering precise feedback for indirect restorations. This technology could have similar applications for direct restorations worth exploring. To this end, this study used 3D surface analysis to measure students' ability to restore teeth's occlusal and proximal contours over time.
method169 teeth restored with composite were scanned with a desktop scanner (E3, 3Shape, Copenhagen) at the end of an academic year. Compound composite restorations were performed in three iterations by 2nd year students enrolled in their first preclinical course. Standard Tessellation Language (STL) files of all restored teeth were analysed for fit with a digital reference using a surface matching software (Geomagic Control 2021; 3D systems). The 3D digital surface analysis output was compared at the different iterations. Additionally, the association between the 3D surface analysis output and scores awarded by tutors was assessed to evaluate this technology's potential to enhance students' independent learning.
resultsAssessment of restored surfaces using 3D surface analyses showed statistically significant differences between second and third iterations (p < 0.001). There was a positive association between tutors' scores and the 3D surface analysis data.
conclusionThe results suggest that digital scanning and 3D surface analysis technology could enhance feedback and promote students' independent learning.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.