Using E‐portfolios to Identify Threshold Concepts in Removable Prosthodontics

ABSTRACT Introduction Training in removable prosthodontics traditionally includes a preclinical laboratory component that precedes clinical exposure. Students struggle to relate the laboratory component to clinical work, because successful learning in removable prosthodontics involves many threshold concepts, some of which have been identified previously. No existing studies consider whether e‐portfolios can help educators and learners identify threshold concepts. Methods Students at a single dental school in Australia complied an e‐portfolio detailing their learning experiences in a preclinical removable prosthodontics laboratory continuum in 2023. Their responses were analyzed using deductive qualitative analysis. Results Two themes were identified (functional occlusion and functional records). Student responses associated each theme with transformative insights, knowledge integration, and bounded professional practice (three features of threshold concepts). Conclusion Analysis of e‐portfolios may be used to identify threshold concepts in dental education. Functional occlusion and records, two thematic constructs identified in our analysis, may be threshold concepts in removable prosthodontics.