The right hand of the David: an analogy used in operative dentistry.

: Educators must be able to guide students in their thinking, and analogies have emerged in the cognitive science literature as an effective tool in this domain because they allow students to relate new information to something they already understand. This gives relevance to what is being taught, allowing students to organize and conceptualize the new material for later retrieval by employing a student-centered approach to learning. This article presents an analogy used in the teaching of operative dentistry--the right hand of Michelangelo's David.