Can a Digital Education Program in Radiographic Imaging Technique for Dental Professionals Improve Image Quality?

June 4, 2024 updated by: Maria Garoff, Umeå University

A Digital Education Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology: Effect on Image Quality Evaluated in a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a digital education program designed for dental professionals can lead to radiographic examinations of better quality. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does the digital education program lead to more radiographic examinations of good quality? Does the digital education program lead to better theoretical and practical understanding regarding image quality among dental professionals?

Researchers will compare answers from a theoretical test and image quality in radiographic examinations between participants with respectively without access to the digital education program.

Participants will:

  • have access to the digital education program for three months
  • after three months all study participants are invited to answer a theoretical test

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The present study aims to evaluate a digital education programs effect on image quality in intraoral radiographic examinations performed by dental professionals. The present study is part of an on-going cross sectional descriptive project where dental professionals employed in general dental care in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden constitute the study population. The purpose of the project is to gain a broader understanding of a digital education programs impact on the theoretical and practical competencies among dental professionals regarding intraoral dental radiographic examinations.

Approximately 80 dental professionals have provided written informed consent regarding study participation. In the present study, approximately 40 participants will for three months be offered the intervention and join a digital education program. Approximately 40 participants will during the same period not be offered the intervention and constitute the control group. Effects on practical competencies between groups will be evaluated when analyzing image quality of intraoral radiographic examinations. Effects on theoretical competencies between groups will be analyzed with a theoretical test.

Cluster randomization of dental clinics will be made for study included participants to either intervention group or control group. Recruitment of study participants will end in August 2024.

The investigators hypothesize that the digital education program will improve the theoretical competence and radiographic image quality in intraoral radiographic examinations.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Maria Garoff, Assoc. Prof.
  • Phone Number: +46 (0)90-785 60 84
  • Email: maria.garoff@umu.se

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Umeå, Sweden
        • Recruiting
        • Folktandvården Region Västerbotten

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Dental professionals performing radiographic examinations employed in general dentistry in the County Council of Västerbotten, Sweden

Exclusion Criteria:

• Dental professionals not performing radiographic examinations

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group
The control group is not offered any intervention.
Experimental: Intervention group
Access to a digital education program for three months.
Other: Digital education program
The approximately six hours long digital education program will be available for three months and implies further education in intraoral radiographic examinations.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Image quality
Time Frame: Baseline and three months post-intervention
Change in image quality of intraoral radiographic examinations measured with a protocol designed for diagnostic image quality assessment. Comparisons between intervention- and control group will be made.
Baseline and three months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Theoretical competence
Time Frame: One month post-intervention
Change in theoretical competence measured in a theoretical test. Comparisons between intervention- and control group will be made.
One month post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Umeå University

Collaborators

Västerbotten County Council, Sweden

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Maria Garoff, Assoc. Prof., Umeå University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 30, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 5, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2024

Last Verified

June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Umea University, Sweden

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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