Impact of Teaching Strategies on Caries Detection and Management.

Aims and background: The increasing prevalence of dental caries highlights the need for effective diagnostic tools. Advances in e-learning and hybrid methods offer promising solutions to improve dental education and assessment. The study aimed to assess which learning method (e-learning, tutorial, and a combination of both) garnered a better response among clinical dental students for the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and International Caries Classification and Management System (ICCMS). Materials and methods: A sample of 90 dental students in the third, fourth, and final years of their dental education was selected to take part in the study, which was conducted in three phases. The learners were requested to answer a set of 15 questions given in a booklet, following which they were grouped into three groups (I, II, and III) by randomization: Group I (e-learning), group II (tutorial), and group III (e-learning + tutorial). Three weeks later, the groups were re-evaluated using the same set of questions. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare pre- and posttest scores across the three learning groups. Results: On comparing the three groups, there appears to be a substantial difference among all three groups, with group III showing a better significance than groups I and II. Conclusion: Though the use of all three learning strategies showed an improved performance by the dental students, it was the use of a combination of e-learning and tutorial that produced a better outcome compared to the other two. Clinical significance: Blended learning enhances dental students' proficiency in ICDAS and ICCMS, emphasizing its efficacy in clinical education. How to cite this article: Sriram S, Perumal S, Nirmal L,