SynthesisBMC medical education2026
Early clinical exposure in undergraduate dental education: a systematic review of effectiveness, experiences, and outcomes.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness of artificial intelligence-driven simulation in dental education: a systematic review and meta-analysis of learning outcomes.BMC medical education · 2026Pooled it
- Undergraduate complete denture education in transition: balancing conventional and digital workflows.Frontiers in oral health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe objective of this systematic review was to synthesize evidence on the early clinical exposure (ECE) and its effectiveness, student experiences, and outcomes in undergraduate dental education.
methodsIn August 2025, the systematic search was carried out in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed-methods peer-reviewed studies evaluating ECE to undergraduate dental students were included. Summary synthesis of included studies was carried out. The risk of bias and quality assessment was assessed with Cochrane Risk of Bias 2, ROBINS-I tool, Joanna Briggs Institute, and Critical Appraisal Skills programme.
resultsNine studies (2007- August 2025) from a range of countries were included. ECE interventions were chairside demonstration, peer-assisted shadowing, simulation, clinical/community placements, and hybrid models. There is evidence of effectiveness of ECE in knowledge, psychomotor skills, and affective domains. In addition, student experiences were reported as positive and significant increases in satisfaction, confidence, motivation, clinical reasoning and other learning gains such as professional identity, empathy, and communication. Six out of nine included studies were non-randomized studies. All the non-randomized studies were reported methodological biases, including small single-center samples, self-report measures, short follow-up periods, and rated as some concern and high risk of bias.
conclusionsECE in undergraduate dental education promising contribution to the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains and reduces transition stress to clinical training. However, presence of methodological bias in included studies undermines the evidence. Future studies with robust objective performance measures, multicentre designs, and longitudinal follow-up should be carried out to better establish the educational and clinical impact of ECE in dental education.
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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.