Amit PORWAL, Anurag SATPATHY, Ankur JETHLIA, Mohammed NAJMUDDIN, Santosh NELOGI, Khang Wen GOH, Priyanka PORWAL
European Journal of General Dentistry - 2026;15(3):372-379
Objective This article evaluates the impact of the tooth crownability index (TCI) on decision-making accuracy among undergraduate dental students. Materials and Methods Seventy-seven undergraduate dental students participated. In session one, students assessed 10 randomly presented case scenarios in four separate rooms. They assessed the crownability and rated periodontal, endodontic, and prosthodontic support as good, fair, or poor. In session two, the same cases were reassessed with access to a TCI. Student decisions from both sessions were compared with those of an expert panel. In the end, students identified which TCI factors influenced their decision-making. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and McNemar's test were used to compare student decisions with and without TCI, with significance set at p<0.05. Results Student decisions aligned significantly more with expert analysis when using TCI (78.7% vs. 60.0%, p=0.014). Improved agreement was also observed for periodontal support (p=0.017), endodontic status (p=0.040), and prosthodontic support (p=0.023) in the TCI session. Students identified prosthodontic factors as the most influential in improving their assessments. Conclusion The TCI significantly improved students' accuracy in assessing tooth crownability across diverse clinical scenarios.
