Self-assessment skills of undergraduate dental students in the preclinical course of complete removable prosthodontics at Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: This study evaluated the self-assessment skills of third-year dental students regarding their performance in complete removable prosthodontics (CRP) preclinical course.Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all third-year dental students attending the International Dental College of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The students were requested to self-assess their performance in primary impression making, custom tray fabrication, border moulding, final impression making, master cast fabrication, record-base fabrication and tooth arrangement in CRP preclinical course. The performance of dental students in each step was scored by themselves and their mentors. Data were analysed by the Mann-Whitney U, Pearson's correlation and t-tests (a = 0.05).Results: Totally 25 male (55.6%) and 20 female (44.4%) dental students were evaluated. Significant differences were noted between male and female dental students in self-assessment scores regarding adequate extension of the custom tray (p = .027), the correct position of tray handle (p = .020), visibility of vestibular width and depth on the cast (p = .011), the coincidence of upper and lower midlines (p = .005) and correct orientation of maxillary and mandibular planes in the articulator (p = .036). The mean self-assessment score of female students was significantly higher than that of male students (p = .01). The scores given by the mentors were not significantly different for male and female students (p = .975). The difference between the self-assessment score of students and the mentor score was not significant (p = .067) either in males or in females (p > .05).Conclusion: Undergraduate dental students favourably self-assessed their performance in all steps of the preclinical course of CRP, comparable with their mentor assessment.