Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of digital impressions made by 3rd and 4th year dental students using a retrospective record review at one USA dental school during a 1-year period.
Materials and methods: After reviewing patient records related to quality assurance, 125 digital impressions and the produced restorations were evaluated. Effectiveness and acceptability of digital impressions and restorations were associated with students’ educational level, number of prepared teeth scanned, type of produced restoration, and restorative material used. Fisher’s exact and chi-square tests were used for the statistical analysis. All dental students had previous experience of the digital curriculum in their preclinical education.
Results: A total of 91% of the digital impressions were acceptable, and 80% of the produced restorations had clinically acceptable margins. Impression approval and restoration acceptance were not affected by students’ educational level, number of preparations or restoration type. Restoration acceptance was significantly affected by restorative material (P = 0.039), with higher rates of acceptable marginal integrity found with glass-ceramic and zirconia materials.
Conclusions: Within the parameters of the present study, 3rd and 4th year dental students, after having extensive education in the preclinical curriculum, can utilize digital impressions effectively for clinical practice. The results show that with adequate educational experiences, dental students can use digital impressions effectively for clinically acceptable restorations. Dental schools can and should educate students in digital dentistry.