Integrating 3D Software Technology for Human Anatomy Instruction in Dental Education

Human anatomy is a foundational subject of dental education that is crucial for success in clinical practice. The dental curriculum requires that students have a comprehensive knowledge of anatomy before progressing to clinical courses. Several complex concepts can be difficult for students to understand from 2D images. Effective teaching methods using 3D models may facilitate learning and long-term retention. To create an interactive activity for dental students to learn anatomy and facilitate the visualization of anatomical structures, we used the 3D Complete Anatomy software (Figure 1). For a demonstration of the software, watch the video using the following link: https://3d4medical.com/. This software allows students to view body systems, perform digital dissections, answer questions, and more (Figure 2). We created questions using 3D models that were tailored for our dental students and implemented as activities in all laboratory sessions spanning two anatomy courses. Hyperlinks that take students directly to the faculty-created exercises were posted in our learning management system. During our laboratory sessions, students navigated through the 3D software, discussed the exercises with their peers, and saved completed assignments for future studies. Faculty members present in the classroom stimulated discussions, guided the exercises, and answered anatomy-related questions. Such activity made learning more active than passively reviewing lecture slides or book pages. We conducted a survey with our dental students who used this activity during our Anatomy and Histology (Course 1) and Applied Orofacial Anatomy courses (Course 2). We obtained a response rate of 74.8% in our survey about Course 1 and 78% in our survey about Course 2. Table 1 shows that 39% of students in Course 1 and 63% in Course 2 found it extremely or very helpful to use the software as a formative learning method. The Chi-square test results suggest that students found the software to be more helpful during Course 2 than 1 (p = 0.003). We show that 68% of students in Course 1 and 73% in Course 2 found it extremely or very helpful to have the presence of faculty during activities. Students perceived teacher guidance to be more useful than the use of the software alone. Our Chi-square tests showed that the helpfulness of faculty during sessions (p = 0.532) and understanding the exercises better after using the software (p = 0.414) were equally perceived by students in both Courses 1 and 2. Overall, the implementation of these guided exercises at our school has been well-received by students. Due to the interactive nature of the exercises, this teacher-guided activity enhanced students’ engagement in studying anatomy, especially in Course 2. The exercises may improve anatomy learning by stimulating evidence-based learning strategies, like active learning and critical thinking [1, 2], and spaced repetition [3], leading to long-term retention. We will continue to improve the teacher-guided use of the software in Course 1 to make it more helpful to dental students. We suggest that teacher-guided exercises using digital interactive 3D anatomy atlases may prove to be a beneficial complement to other teaching resources in dental education [4]. The authors have nothing to report. The authors declare no conflict of interest.