JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Simulation-based education is increasingly integrated into preclinical dental curricula as a strategy to enhance technical skill acquisition and promote safe transition to clinical practice. Dental simulators enable repetitive, structured training with objective feedback, potentially functioning as the equivalent of accumulating “clinical flight hours” prior to patient care. This study aimed to evaluate first- and second-year dental students’ satisfaction with simulator-based training and to compare perceptions across academic years and demographic groups.

Objective:

To evaluate first- and second-year dental students’ satisfaction with simulation-based training and to examine its association with demographic characteristics, academic year, simulator exposure, and objective simulator performance.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among first- and second-year dental students at Egas Moniz School of Health and Science. Students were granted unrestricted access to dental simulators throughout the semester. After the training period, participants completed a 17-item questionnaire assessing three domains: hardware quality, software quality, and overall user experience. Responses were recorded using a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive and comparative analyses were performed to evaluate differences by academic year, sex, and age.

Results:

A total of 148 students participated (87 first-year; 61 second-year). Overall satisfaction was high (88.3%). First-year students reported slightly higher overall satisfaction than second-year students (89.4% vs. 87.2%), although second-year students rated hardware more positively. Female students reported higher overall satisfaction than male students (89.5% vs. 84.4%). Younger students demonstrated higher satisfaction levels, with a gradual decline observed with increasing age. High scores were observed across all domains.

Conclusions:

Dental simulators were highly valued as tools for structured practice and perceived skill development. These findings support the integration of simulator-based training into early dental curricula as a complement to traditional preclinical education.