Introduction: The Mini-CEX (clinical evaluation exercise) is an objective assessment tool which is reliable and valid in the clinical setting as, the traditional tools of assessment are time consuming and neither assess communication skills nor provide feedback to the students. Aim: To introduce Mini Clinical evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) for assessing preventive procedure - 1.23% acidulated phosphate Fluoride (APF) gel application by final year dental students. Methodology: Thirteen final year dental students posted in the department of Public Health Dentistry were assessed by two assessors, on two different occasions using the standardized Mini-CEX rating profroma. Immediate structured feedback was then provided to the students. Experience regarding the Mini-CEX exercise of both students and assessors, was recorded using questionnaires consisting of 8 and 6 question respectively, on a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Overall clinical performance of students showed both statistically significant and clinically appreciable improvement from borderline to ‘meets expectation’. Of the 7 areas assessed by the Mini-CEX exercise, students demonstrated an improvement in 4 areas – history taking, communication skills, clinical judgment and professionalism on comparison of average scores between the two encounters. Although, physical examination skills and organization efficiency scores were found to be statistically significant between the two encounters, the improvement was not clinically appreciable – category remained unchanged – ‘borderline’. Both students and assessors were positive regarding the Mini- CEX exercise, as it boosted their confidence in performance during examination and assessment respectively. Conclusions: Mini-CEX was found to be a useful alternative to traditional methods of assessments currently available in dental clinics.
