Impact of Digital Dentistry Technologies on the Educational Motivation of Dental Students Experiencing Stress on the Background of Ongoing War in Ukraine

Abstract

Objective of the study was to assess the impact of implementing digital dental technologies into the study process on the educational motivation of dental students experiencing stressed environment on the background of ongoing war in Ukraine. Research was held in the form of online questionnaire-based survey among academical groups of students of 2nd and 3rd years of study during their education within the Department of Restorative Dentistry. Evaluation of stress level observed among dental students was provided based on original Depression Anxiety Stress Scale – Short Form (DASS-21), evaluation of students educational motivation was held based on adapted version of Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ-II), while also additional questionnaire was designed to assess students’ subjective grading regarding possible connections between the educational motivation and related factors. Implementation of digital dental technologies within the study process and students’ possibility to interact with such helped to increase students’ intrinsic motivation, while also career motivation to the levels of 14,12±1,79 and 13,94±2,05 correspondingly, which were statistically higher compared to the situation of providing dental education in conventional mode (p < 0.05). Willingness to get higher grade in the class demonstrated the lowest but still statistically significant correlation with educational motivation (r=0.35, p < 0.05). Obtained results should be interpreted with the caution, since students educational motivation was registered at some specific time point corresponding to cross-sectional study design, while it may change and vary in time considering students familiarization with digital dentistry instruments and impact of other personal, social or environmental factors. Students accessibility to the digital dental technologies, like intraoral scanning, cast model scanning, 3D printing and milling both at the preclinical and clinical courses of studying enhance students’ motivation toward education by helping to overlook and analyze aspects related with specific clinical aspects, while also forming conditions where some theoretical study topics could be 3D visualized, which in turn improves students’ clinical thinking patterns. Clinical article (J Int Dent Med Res 2024; 17(1): 268-276)