The Use of Conventional and Mobile Application in Removable Partial Denture Designing Jan Iryne A. Filoteo

Aims: This study was conducted to compare the level of performance of the dental students following the principles of Removable Partial Denture with the use of conventional paper-based method and mobile software application.

Study Design: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study. Assessment of performance of students using conventional paper-based methods in RPD designing was measured and compared with using the mobile application.

Place and Duration of Study: This research study is a pilot study in Prosthodontics using mobile software application as a supplemental teaching aid in the design of a removable partial denture for the dental students enrolled in a private University in the Philippines for the academic year 2018-2019.

Methodology: A descriptive research design was utilized in this study. Assessment of performance of students using conventional paper-based methods in RPD designing was measured and compared with using the mobile application. The level of performance of dental students using both methods was also measured following the RPD principles. An exercise was given to the students to design RPD using the conventional method and with RPD mobile application. Output of their given tasks was evaluated using rubrics.

Results: Based on the data gathered and results obtained, the respondents agreed that conventional method in RPD designing is easy to use, yield accurate results and they are satisfied on its use. The mobile application software was considered as a practical supplement for RPD designing. When the two methods were compared, the results show that there is no significant difference in the use of conventional paper based method and mobile application with regards to its ease of use, accuracy of results as well as with the satisfaction of students When the level of performance of dental students were grouped according to the two methods used following the principles of RPD designing, significant difference were noted in terms of major connector, minor connector, rest, denture base, and overall design. The dental students performed better using conventional method in designing the major connector, minor connector, rest and denture base compared to supplemental mobile applications.

Conclusion: Dental students perform well in the conventional RPD designing using conventional methods under the supervision of their Clinical Instructors compared to their level of performance using mobile application software.