Educational Purpose of the Exercise
This exercise has been designed to support Year 2 and Year 3 dental students in developing skills in carious tissue removal and minimally invasive caries management. The activity focuses on managing an asymptomatic tooth with confirmed pulp vitality whilst avoiding unnecessary pulp exposure.
Structure of the Exercise
The exercise uses a 3D-printed typodont tooth with a simulated deep carious lesion and pulp chamber.
The model is designed so that if students are overly aggressive or misdirected during excavation, they may expose the simulated pulpal tissue, which appears red. This allows the exercise to be extended to include management of pulp exposure and partial pulpotomy.
Benefits
The model provides consistent teaching opportunities without the variability associated with extracted teeth. It may reduce the costs associated with sourcing, storing, disinfecting, and replacing natural teeth, while also offering environmental benefits through reduced use of extracted specimens and associated decontamination processes.
Additional Details
- The resource is provided as four files to facilitate printing.
- Printing Technology: Stratasys DentaJet J5
- Materials: VeroDent™ PureWhite, VeroVivid™ colour resins, and support material
