Serious Games for Training in Oral Rehabilitation

Implementation of Game-based Training in Oral Rehabilitation of Edentulous Patients in Undergraduate Dental Course

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) dramatically changed the learning conditions of dental students, with restricted access to training sessions and clinical practice. The "Playdent" project proposed the integration of serious games (SGs) in the third-year curriculum, based on tailor-made scenarios questioning the first dental visit of edentulous patients, and examined whether training with the games would advance students' learning outcomes.

Three Serious games proposed in addition to conventional lectures and practical exercises in oral rehabilitation of edentulous patients were supposed to improve knowledge and skills of undergraduates. However, in order to assess the influence of SGs on students' learning outcomes and subsequent satisfaction, a single-blind controlled protocol was designed. The null hypothesis was that SGs had no impact on the learning outcomes of undergraduate students.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adult students (aged at least 18)
• enrolled in the third-year at the faculty of dental surgery of the University of Paris,
• agreeing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Third-year students who had repeated their courses