The Application and Effect of a Novel Oral Mirror Training Device Combined With BOPPPS Teaching Mode in Enhancing Hand-Eye Coordination Skills of Dental Students

Introduction: As a highly practical discipline, oral medicine requires students to possess strong hand-eye coordination skills particularly in the use of dental mirrors for indirect vision procedures. This study aims to explore the application and effectiveness of a novel oral mirror training device in cultivating hand-eye coordination among dental students, based on the BOPPPS teaching model. This device is a self-designed physical model with a three-dimensional adjustable mirror image. Methods: A total of 60 third-year students majoring in Dental Medicine at Hunan University of Medicine in 2023 were selected as research participants and randomly assigned to an experimental group (oral mirror training technology combined with the BOPPPS teaching model, n = 30) and a control group (conventional BOPPPS teaching model, n = 30). Upon completion of the teaching sessions, all students underwent unified assessments of their practical oral operation projects using a digital evaluation system. Additionally, satisfaction surveys regarding the training were distributed via a WeChat mini-program immediately after the training and 1 year later. Results: According to the digital evaluation system, the average practical operation scores of the experimental and control groups were 90.10 ± 4.20 and 83.40 ± 5.26. The score of the experimental group increased by 6.7 points. One year later, a follow-up assessment was conducted in accordance with the standards of the National Dental Licensing Examination, and the pass rate of the experimental group improved by 13%, respectively, with the experimental group scoring significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.01). The hand-eye coordination training satisfaction questionnaire revealed that the experimental group achieved significantly higher total scores both immediately after training (94.00 points) and 1 year later (89.33 points), compared to the control group (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The integration of oral mirror training technology with the BOPPPS model establishes an effective paradigm for clinically authentic skill acquisition in dental education. This study demonstrates significant improvements in students' mirror-involved operational competencies (e.g., posterior tooth preparations and indirect vision techniques) through structured simulation training. Future developments should prioritise: (1) technical refinement of the training apparatus to incorporate real-time digital assessment capabilities, enabling adaptive learning pathways; (2) longitudinal tracking of clinical performance outcomes to validate the transferability of the use of oral glasses. This dual focus on technological enhancement and outcome validation will further bridge the gap between simulated training and clinical practice in operative dentistry.