Relationship between dentistry students’ psychomotor skills, and fixed prosthodontics performance, their self-estimate and self-efficacy

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dental students’ performance in premolar preparation for porcelain fused to metal (PFM) crowns and their psychomotor skills. Additionally, the study explored the relationship between students’ baseline psychomotor skills, self-estimate, and self-efficacy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty fourth-year dental students enrolled in the fixed prosthodontics course were included in this study. Psychomotor skills were assessed using the Gibson Spiral Maze test before training. Students were then instructed on PFM crown preparation for premolars. Following instruction, students rated their self-estimate performance using a visual analog scale (VAS; 0–10). After completing the tooth preparation, students rated their self-efficacy using the same scale. Tooth preparations were evaluated by an expert professor using a standardized checklist (0–10). Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess relationships between psychomotor skills, preparation scores, self-estimate, and self-efficacy. RESULTS: The mean tooth preparation score was 6.96 ± 1.44, and the mean error count in the psychomotor test was 8.54 ± 4.97. No significant correlation was found between preparation scores and self-efficacy ( P = 0.10) or self-estimate ( P = 0.18). However, a significant negative correlation was observed between errors in the Gibson Maze test and preparation scores ( P < 0.001), self-estimate ( P = 0.02), and self-efficacy ( P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that improving psychomotor skills, particularly hand–eye coordination, can enhance students’ self-efficacy and the quality of clinical performance. Incorporating psychomotor skill training into dental curricula may benefit students’ clinical competence and confidence.