PROFICIENCY TESTING OF UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTSIN PERMANENT TOOTH MORPHOLOGY

Background : Tooth morphology and features of individual tooth forms the basis for dentistry and its subjects. Tooth morphology covers topics such as tooth surfaces, identification of each individual tooth using their characteristic features. As known permanent teeth are 32 in number and each tooth has its characteristic features which are essential for tooth identification, inculcating the knowledge regarding these characteristics will assist dental students and help them in achieving a good practice. Aim : To test the knowledge and proficiency about permanent tooth and its morphology among dental students. Objective : Dental Anatomy is one of the major subjects for under graduate dental students and forms the foundation to their knowledge. A test was conducted for the dental students to test their knowledge about permanent tooth morphology. Methodology: This was a survey based study, done using an online forum, SurveyPlanet. The survey was circulated amongst undergraduate students in various years of study, in two colleges in Chennai and one in Dubai and 92 responses were collected. From the obtained responses, the results were tallied and evaluated. Results:From the survey conducted it was noticed that most students were confused on the landmarks of teeth and it's surfaces and it was also noticed that the students were also not clear with a few other other concepts in accordance with tooth morphology. Conclusions: On an average nearly 40% of the students who had taken part in the survey were unable to identify the tooth of basis of questions pertaining to their chronology and morphology. This has to be avoided as tooth morphology lays the foundation tow proficient dentist who is a confident practitioner.. dental and the masticatory systems general, seems to be a descriptive and static science, dental anatomy escapes from this rule, because it needs to explain the reason for the existence of dynamic functions teeth.[2] Teeth, dental arches, and periodontal tissues constitute the major part of most dental practices [2]. The professional (surgeon/dentist) who is committed to the preservation of human teeth should have a clear understanding of the charact dental morphology and must develop enough manual dexterity to reproduce any part of the dental system, maintaining perfect correlation with the whole importance is a knowledge of function and anatomic dental elements, a knowledge that is intimately related to most dental areas [2]. To perform dental procedures with confidence, knowledge pertaining to tooth morphology and dental anatomy is utmost necessary. This survey was conducted amongst undergraduate dental stude not there is clarity in the subject and if there is a lack, in 6505, Impact Factor: SJIF: 5.995


INTRODUCTION
Tooth morphology/dental anatomy is defined as the subject, which deals with the external and internal structure, morphology, function, eruption and shedding of all the teeth in the mouth. [1] Tooth morphology or features of individual tooth forms the basis for dentistry and its subjects. It covers topics such as tooth surfaces, identification of teeth on the basis of specific characteristic features (landmarks, incisal angles, surfaces), chronology of teeth, identification of various different features based on the aspect of each tooth, etc. In most dental colleges, Dental Anatomy is taught as a major subject in the first year of study. Dental anatomy, as a branch of biology, comprises the study and organization of the tooth as an isolated entity and as an integrant of both the

ROFICIENCY TESTING OF UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTSIN PERMANENT TOOTH MORPHOLOGY-A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED STUDY
Trinaina Somas Kandhan., Gifrina Jayraj and K.R.Don Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai.

A B S T R A C T
Background : Tooth morphology and features of individual tooth forms the basis for dentistry and its subjects. Tooth morphology covers topics such as tooth surfaces, identification of each individual tooth using their characteristic features. As known permanent teeth are 32 in number and each tooth has its characteristic features which are essential for tooth identification, inculcating the knowledge regarding these characteristics will assist dental students and help them in achieving a good practice.

Aim :
To test the knowledge and proficiency about permanent tooth and its morphology among dental students.
Objective : Dental Anatomy is one of the major subjects for under graduate dental students and forms the foundation to their knowledge. A test was conducted for the dental students to test their knowledge about permanent tooth morphology.

Methodology:
This was a survey based study, done using an online forum, SurveyPlanet. The survey was circulated amongst undergraduate students in various years of study, in two colleges in Chennai and one in Dubai and 92 responses were collected. From the obtained responses, the results were tallied and evaluated.
Results:From the survey conducted it was noticed that most students were confused on the landmarks of teeth and it's surfaces and it was also noticed that the students were also not clear with a few other other concepts in accordance with tooth morphology.

Conclusions:
On an average nearly 40% of the students who had taken part in the survey were unable to identify the tooth of basis of questions pertaining to their chronology and morphology. This has to be avoided as tooth morphology lays the foundation tow proficient dentist who is a confident practitioner..
Tooth morphology/dental anatomy is defined as the subject, which deals with the external and internal structure, function, eruption and shedding of all the teeth [1] Tooth morphology or features of individual tooth forms the basis for dentistry and its subjects. It covers topics such as tooth surfaces, identification of teeth on the aracteristic features (landmarks, incisal angles, surfaces), chronology of teeth, identification of various different features based on the aspect of each tooth, etc. In most dental colleges, Dental Anatomy is taught as a Dental anatomy, as a branch of biology, comprises the study and organization of the tooth as an isolated entity and as an integrant of both the dental and the masticatory systems general, seems to be a descriptive and static science, dental anatomy escapes from this rule, because it needs to explain the reason for the existence of dynamic functions teeth. [2] Teeth, dental arches, and periodontal tissues constitute the major part of most dental practices [2].
The professional (surgeon/dentist) who is committed to the preservation of human teeth should have a clear understanding of the charact dental morphology and must develop enough manual dexterity to reproduce any part of the dental system, maintaining perfect correlation with the whole importance is a knowledge of function and anatomic dental elements, a knowledge that is intimately related to most dental areas [2]. To perform dental procedures with confidence, knowledge pertaining to tooth morphology and dental anatomy is utmost necessary. This survey was conducted amongst undergraduate dental stude not there is clarity in the subject and if there is a lack, in Tooth morphology and features of individual tooth forms the basis for dentistry and its subjects. Tooth morphology covers topics such as tooth surfaces, identification of each individual tooth using their characteristic features. As known are 32 in number and each tooth has its characteristic features which are essential for tooth identification, inculcating the knowledge regarding these characteristics will assist dental students and help them in achieving a good practice.
To test the knowledge and proficiency about permanent tooth and its morphology Dental Anatomy is one of the major subjects for under graduate dental students rms the foundation to their knowledge. A test was conducted for the dental students to test their knowledge about permanent tooth morphology.
This was a survey based study, done using an online forum, SurveyPlanet. mongst undergraduate students in various years of study, in two colleges in Chennai and one in Dubai and 92 responses were collected. From the obtained responses, the results were tallied and evaluated.
From the survey conducted it was noticed that most students were confused on the landmarks of teeth and it's surfaces and it was also noticed that the students were also not clear with a few other other concepts in accordance with tooth morphology.
On an average nearly 40% of the students who had taken part in the survey were unable to identify the tooth of basis of questions pertaining to their chronology and morphology. This has to be avoided as tooth morphology lays the foundation towards a dental and the masticatory systems [2]. Although anatomy, in general, seems to be a descriptive and static science, dental anatomy escapes from this rule, because it needs to explain the reason for the existence of dynamic functions of the teeth. [2] Teeth, dental arches, and periodontal tissues constitute the major part of most dental practices [2].
The professional (surgeon/dentist) who is committed to the preservation of human teeth should have a clear understanding of the characteristics and fundamentals of dental morphology and must develop enough manual dexterity to reproduce any part of the dental system, maintaining perfect correlation with the whole [2].Of great importance is a knowledge of function and anatomic dental ts, a knowledge that is intimately related to most dental To perform dental procedures with confidence, knowledge pertaining to tooth morphology and dental anatomy is utmost necessary. This survey was conducted amongst undergraduate dental students to analyse whether or not there is clarity in the subject and if there is a lack, in

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which area there is a lack in understanding and how to rectify this lack in clarity, so as to ensure proper understanding to result in confident practice.

METHODS AND MATERIALS
This study was done by using a survey questionnaire. The survey was conducted on an online forum using SurveyPlanet. It was circulated amongst three colleges, 2 within Chennai and 1 in Dubai, and undergraduate students from the first to fourth year were requested to fill the survey.

Out of 92 responses : 5-First year 57-Second year 19-Third year 8-Fourth year
Only 65.2% of students correctly identified the tooth shown in the picture as maxillary central incisor, however77.8% of students correctly identified the surface of the tooth as labial surface.
Only 71.9% of students correctly identified the characteristic feature as sharp mesioincisal angle, this was because most students were confused and chose the option stating rounded mesioincisal.
Only 72.2% of students identified the tooth correctly as Mandibular First Molar on analysis of the chronological order.
81.1% of students identified correctly that the major fossa present in the Maxillary First Molar is only the Central Fossa, most students confused the major fossae present in Mandibular First Molar (Central and Distal Fossae) with this and answered incorrectly.
76.1% of students answered correctly as Maxillary First Molar on observing the occlusal surface of the picture given.
Proficiency testing of undergraduate dental studentsin permanent tooth morphology based study.
On comparing questions 3 and 10, it is noted that more students were able to identify the maxillary posterior teeth than the maxillary anterior teeth.

DISCUSSION
Dental Anatomy is taught as a major subject in the first year of study. Dental anatomy, as a branch of biology, comprises the study and organization of the tooth as an isolated entity and as an integrant of both the dental and the masticatory systems [2]. It plays a vital role in enriching the students about the basic morphology of teeth so that as they mature into dentists, they will be confident practitioners and will be highly proficient. From the above obtained results it is seen that most students are confused between the surfaces of the teeth when asked to identify from a picture. It was also seen that most students had difficulty in distinguishing between mandibular and maxillary teeth. Nearly 40% of the students who attempted the questionnaire seemed to be rather unclear about their concepts.
Proficiency testing of undergraduate dental studentsin permanent tooth morphology 2754 On comparing questions 3 and 10, it is noted that more students were able to identify the maxillary posterior teeth Dental Anatomy is taught as a major subject in the first year Dental anatomy, as a branch of biology, comprises the study and organization of the tooth as an isolated entity and as an integrant of both the dental and the masticatory It plays a vital role in enriching the students about the basic morphology of teeth so that as they mature into dentists, they will be confident practitioners and will be highly proficient. From the above obtained results it is seen confused between the surfaces of the teeth when asked to identify from a picture. It was also seen that most students had difficulty in distinguishing between mandibular and maxillary teeth. Nearly 40% of the students to be rather unclear Though Dental Anatomy is a part of first year curriculum in most dental colleges in India, it is actually continued in majority of the course duration in colleges abroad. This lays emphasis on just how important dental anatomy is and especially tooth morphology is. To dental procedures one must first be proficient in tooth identification, as it lays the foundation for them to further learn and understand the wide curriculum that follows.

CONCLUSIONS
From the above drawn results, it is observed that most students face a difficulty in identifying the anterior teeth on the basis of characteristic features and confuse them with other anterior teeth showing close similarity. anatomy is a vital subject for understanding which plays an important aspect for having a clear and confident practice. To avoid such difficulties or confusions, it is advised to draw diagrams or use dentulous casts of the dentition whilst studying, as this h the important features such as landmarks, the different aspects and surfaces, etc. It also advised to create a flowchart or tabulate the chronological order of teeth on the basis of eruption sequence as this will help remember chronology but also the time of eruption.
10. Fanning ******* Proficiency testing of undergraduate dental studentsin permanent tooth morphology-a questionnaire Anatomy is a part of first year curriculum in most dental colleges in India, it is actually continued in majority of the course duration in colleges abroad. This lays emphasis on just how important dental anatomy is and especially tooth morphology is. To understand the various dental procedures one must first be proficient in tooth identification, as it lays the foundation for them to further learn and understand the wide curriculum that follows.
From the above drawn results, it is observed that most students face a difficulty in identifying the anterior teeth on the basis of characteristic features and confuse them with other anterior teeth showing close similarity. As dental bject for understanding tooth morphology which plays an important aspect for having a clear and To avoid such difficulties or confusions, it is advised to draw diagrams or use dentulous casts of the dentition whilst studying, as this helps the students to register the important features such as landmarks, the different aspects and surfaces, etc. It also advised to create a flowchart or the chronological order of teeth on the basis of eruption sequence as this will help remember not only the chronology but also the time of eruption.