Do dental undergraduates think that Thiel‐embalmed cadavers are a more realistic model for teaching exodontia?

Introduction Teaching exodontia to novice undergraduates requires a realistic model. Thiel‐embalmed cadavers retain the flexibility of the soft tissues and could be used to teach exodontia. Objective The objective was to determine whether Thiel‐embalmed cadavers were perceived to be a more realistic model by undergraduates in comparison with mannequins. Materials and Methods Over a period of 4 years (2011‐2014), students were randomly assigned into two groups: those taught exodontia on mannequins only (NT) and those who also experienced cadaveric teaching (T). This was followed by an assessment. Results There were 174 students in the T group and 108 in the NT group. Sixty‐five per cent of the T group and 69% of the NT group provided feedback. Ninety‐eight per cent (98%) felt that they had been advantaged by being included in the group compared with 95% in the NT who felt disadvantaged. The majority (98%) thought that using the cadavers was advantageous and gave a realistic feel for soft tissue management (89%) and that it was similar to managing a patient (81%). Self‐reported confidence in undertaking an extraction was not different between the two groups (P=.078), and performance in the extraction assessment was not significantly different between the two groups over the 4 years (P=.8). Conclusion The Thiel‐embalmed cadavers were well received by the students who found it a more realistic model for exodontia than a mannequin, even though this did not impact on their performance in a following assessment. Future work on these cadavers may be expanded to include surgical procedures.