Analyzing the Influence of Video Game and Music Engagementon Technical Skills Acquisition in Dental Students in PreclinicalPhase:Protocol for a Prospective, Controlled, Longitudinal Study

Background: The practice of dental surgery requires a few different skills, including mental rotation of an object, precision ofmovement with good hand-eye coordination, and speed of technical movement. Learning these different skills begins during thepreclinical phase of dental student training. Moreover, playing a musical instrument or video game seems to promote the earlydevelopment of these skills. However, we found that studies specifically addressing this issue in the field of dental education arelacking. Objective: The main aims of this study are to evaluate whether the ability to mentally represent a volume in 3D, the precisionof gestures with their right and left hand, or the speed of gesture execution is better at baseline or progresses faster for players(video games or music or both). Methods: A prospective monocentric controlled and longitudinal study will be conducted from September 2023 and will lastuntil April 2025 in the Faculty of Dental Surgery of Nantes. Participants were students before starting their preclinical training.Different tests will be used such as Vandenberg and Kuse's mental rotation test, the modified Precision Manual Dexterity (PMD),and performing a pulpotomy on a permanent tooth. This protocol was approved by the Ethics, Deontology, and Scientific IntegrityCommittee of Nantes University (institutional review board approval number IORG0011023). Results: A total of 86 second-year dental surgery students were enrolled to participate in the study in September 2023. Theywill take part in 4 iterations of the study, the last of which will take place in April 2025. Conclusions: Playing video games or a musical instrument or both could be a potential tool for initiating or facilitating thelearning of certain technical skills in dental surgery.