THE PRECLINICAL TRAINING IN THE SUBJECT OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY: A NEW ONLINE PRACTICE GUIDE

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this paper is to present an online Practice Guide for the subject of Paediatric Dentistry in the fourth year of the Dentistry studies at Complutense University of Madrid.
Other objectives of our communication are:
1. To compare the new Practice Guide with the former one.
2. To point out the usefulness of the Virtual Campus as an e-learning tool.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A new guide for the preclinical practices of Pediatric Dentistry was elaborated based upon the most recent literature in Pedodontics.
It is made up of nine chapters, one for each preclinical practice that the students are supposed to do during the preclinical training of the subject, and it is available online at he "Virtual Campus" of the subject.
Texts were accompanied by photographs and schematic drawings, especially and exclusively designed for the guide. In order to illustrate the procedures step-by-step, pictures of the Preclinical Practices were included, as well as real cases´ ones. There were also available for the students, videos showing different isolation techniques.

RESULTS
One of the weakest aspects of the former printed Practice Guide was texts, which were not clear enough and its comprehension was not easy to achieve sometimes. In the new version of the guide, we include many step-by-step explanations of procedures such as isolation techniques, composite restorations, pulp therapy and stainless steel crowns.
We would like to point out, as some of the most positive aspects of the new guide, the new imaging material, as well as the videos, and the clarified and new-techniques updated procedures.
The online availability of the Guide supposed a big innovation with regard to the old printed version. Recent papers showed that a combination of classroom and online education was identified by some students as the ideal methodology. Students would have the advantage of flexibility and access to the content as long as desired, but they would also have the interaction between student and teacher in the classroom that would allow for discussion of specific questions not as easily provided in the computer format. Our new practice guide, which is available online for the students at the Virtual Campus of the subject, fits perfectly the characteristics of this method.
The e-learning method, represented here by the Virtual Campus, has broadly demonstrated being a tremendously useful tool for both, students and teachers.

CONCLUSIONS
1. A new online guide for the subject of Paediatric Dentistry in the fourth year of Dentistry at Complutense University of Madrid has been elaborated to fulfil the requirements of the students during the development of the preclinical practices.

2. The new Guide, which consists in nine chapters, has been updated to the most recent literature and techniques in Paediatric Dentistry. In order to provide it with the most appropriate and suitable iconography, there were included photographs and schematic drawings, especially and exclusively designed to accompany the texts, as well as step-by-step pictures of the preclinical practices procedures and real cases´ ones. We also included some illustrative videos.

3. The “Virtual Campus” is a useful and effective tool for both students and teachers. It offers new possibilities and horizons in terms of didactic materials and feed-back communication between alumni and faculty, resulting in a better formation of the future professional.