Evaluation of a digital game for teaching behavioral aspects of clinical communication in dentistry.

INTRODUCTION: Traditionally, dental students learn the skills for dentist-patient interaction and communication via on-site contact with patients, when they start clinical training. However, preclinical students (who have not started clinical practice) have fewer chances to realize the context of dentist-patient interaction. It has remained unclear if a gamification approach via digital media, i.e., a computer role-playing game, can help to learn clinical communication skills. The intervention-based study investigates the effectiveness of the clinical dentist-patient communication (CDPC) game on students' motivation, beliefs, and self-efficacy to learn behavioral issues of clinical communication. METHODS: Fifty-two dental students (Preclinical group) and 18 dental interns and dentists (Clinical group) played the CDPC game, which consists of 16 scenes of clinical context about dentist-patient communication (less than 40 min for playing), via web browsers. Pre-test and post-test questionnaires were used to assess their motivation, beliefs, and self-efficacy to learn behavioral issues of clinical communication. The effectiveness was examined by comparing pre-test and post-test scores within-subject and between-group difference was compared between Preclinical and Clinical groups, via non-parametric statistical tests. RESULTS: (A) In the Preclinical group, participants showed a significant increase in motivation and self-efficacy in learning after playing the CDPC game (p < 0.05, adjusted of multiple comparison). (B) In contrast, the Clinical group did not show a significant difference before vs. after playing the game. (C) After playing the game, the Preclinical group showed a significant association between motivation and beliefs (p = 0.024) and between motivation and self-efficacy (p = 0.001); the Clinical group showed a significant association between motivation and beliefs (p = 0.033). CONCLUSIONS: The current evidence suggests that gamification of learning helps preclinical students to understand the context of clinical dentist-patient interaction and increase their motivation and self-efficacy to learn behavioral issues of clinical communication.

Use of Social Media to View and Post Dentistry-related Information in Bahrain: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES: Healthcare-related information sharing via social media is on the rise following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Dental practices primarily use social media to search, share, and communicate health-related information. Considering the increasing trend of using social media, the primary aim of the present study was to identify the use of social media by dentists and laypeople to post and view dentistry-related content in Bahrain. METHODS: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study included adult participants and dentists. A pretested validated questionnaire was administered. The chi-square test for association was used to assess the association between categorical outcomes. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: In total, 249 adult participants and 53 dentists were included. A substantial majority (83.5%) of the participants reported that they always used social media to view dentistry-related content, and 69.8% of the dentists felt that patients who use social media have better oral health awareness. A longer duration of social media usage showed significant associations with particularly viewing dentistry-related content (p = 0.008) and contacting dentists directly through social media for consultation (p = 0.055). CONCLUSIONS: An extremely high percentage of the younger population in Bahrain is using various social media to discuss dentistry. This engagement should be wisely managed to promote dentistry-related information sharing, which can lead to increased awareness related to overall dental health. There is a definite need to enforce certain standard operating procedures in every country that will prevent the misuse of this technological advancement.