Pilot study confirms the advantages of prepCheck

In a pilot study conducted at the Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, dental students rated the computer-assisted analysis system prepCheck from Sirona as "good or better".

The computer-assisted analysis system prepCheck enables dental students to check their preparations. The tool provides standardized and reproducible measurement values which are displayed in color.

Additional results from the study: Students were able to identify sharp edges and undercuts more readily with prepCheck and regarded it as helpful to be able to assess the planned restoration in advance and also check their own work. Above and beyond this, students recommended use of the system in the phantom course of dental studies and also when preparing for exams. All the participants evaluated working with the system as "simple". prepCheck has been integrated into the dental studies curriculum at the University of Frankfurt since the 2013 summer semester. "In their first clinical semester, students work with the system in the restorative dentistry phantom course. There is a great deal of interest and the feedback has been very positive", explained Paul Weigl, Head of Department of Continuing Education at the Goethe University.

Award-winning project team

The pilot study was initiated by a project team at the University of Frankfurt comprising Annika Stumpf, Thomas Gerhardt, Roland Felber, Paul Weigl, Detlef Heidemann and Susanne Gerhardt-Szép. The team selected the study participants from fellow students at the university considered to be neutral and unbiased, and also applied the same conditions to the evaluation. The study participants had all successfully passed the sixth semester and were in the seventh semester of their studies. Moreover, none of them had had any previous experience with CEREC or the analysis system prepCheck.

Annika Stumpf presented the results of the evaluation at the conference of the working group for the further development of teaching in dentistry (AKWLZ) and was awarded first prize for her talk entitled "Computer-assisted 3D analysis of cavities using prepCheck: A pilot study". Stumpf, currently in her seventh semester, chose the study as the basis for her dissertation. In her talk she discussed the problem at hand, the research design, the individual phases of the pilot study, as well as the results and also offered an outlook on the possible applications of prepCheck in dental studies.

A digital assistant for dental studies

prepCheck is a computer-assisted analysis tool for prosthetic and conservative application which can be used during both the pre-clinical and clinical stages of dental school. This tool allows students to check their preparations. The software also automatically assesses relevant parameters of the preparation such as height, angular position, edge contour, or distance to the antagonist and presents the results of the analysis in color. "Basically, the system shows what the dentist needs to see at first glance when viewing a preparation; individual parameters are assessed as to whether they are clinically acceptable or not," says Klaus Jöckel, head of the department of individual solutions in the Treatment Center Division at Sirona. prepCheck thus provides uniform, reproducible measurement values. As a basis for comparing the individual parameters, users can define a specific parameter range that is considered clinically acceptable or use a master preparation. prepCheck is a CEREC software application which draws on CEREC measurement data and which can be acquired in combination with CEREC AC or Sirona Connect.

About the AKWLZ

The working group for the further development of teaching in dentistry (AKWLZ) is a joint working group of the German Association of University Teachers of Dentistry and Oral Medicine (VHZMK) and the German Society for Dental and Oral Medicine (DGZMK). This initiative started in 2009 and, since then, has been held each year in a different location.