Planning oral rehabilitation: case-based computer assisted learning in clinical dentistry

The partially edentulous adult offers a unique and problem-rich resource as a basis for a case-based learning scenario in clinical dentistry in the fi eld of planning oral rehabilitation. However, there is little resource mate rial available to help students negotiate the territory between diagnosis a nd treatment options of discrete conditions and treatment sequencing once d ecisions have been made. To address the educational void surrounding the te aching and learning of oral rehabilitation strategies, the authors have dev eloped a CD-ROM 'Interactive Learning in Dentistry: Decision making in the oral rehabilitation of the partially edentulous adult'. The disc emphasises the distinction between 'doing' and 'planning to do' in the decision-makin g process. After using the disc the students should be able to apply a gene ric framework to formulate a custom oral rehabilitation plan for their own patient. The disc was evaluated by final-year students from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Sydney. Response to the program was essentially po sitive and comments from students have impacted on further development.