Investigating the construct validity of a haptic virtual caries simulation for dental education

Abstract

IntroductionTeaching dental caries removal is limited by the material and methods available in the preclinical teaching space. Plastic teeth do not simulate the tactile feel of a lesion and natural teeth do not allow for standardised training and assessment. A novel method for simulating caries has been reported. Here, to investigate the construct validity of a caries simulation, whether haptic simulation could contribute to the understanding of caries removal, the performance of first-year dental students on the haptic simulation exercise is compared with that of experienced dentists.MethodA virtual block comprising healthy dentine, pulp, enamel and a carious lesion with significant spread along the amelodentinal junction (ADJ) was developed for the Simodont dental trainer. The case was presented to 112 first-year students and 17 clinicians following a 15 min training period on a block which contained green caries and displayed live progress throughout the exercise. All participants were given the same verbal instructions: to remove all unsupported enamel and caries along the ADJ while retaining as much healthy tissue as possible.ResultsClinicians performed better than the dental novices in precision and overall performance. Clinicians removed more material on average, except for healthy dentine, of which similar amounts were removed by both groups.DiscussionWe presented a novel haptic caries exercise and investigated the construct validity of the task. The simulation may bridge the gap between preclinical and clinical dental education in caries removal.ConclusionClinically experienced dentists outperformed novices on a haptic caries simulation exercise. The exercise may be a useful tool for assessing conceptual understanding of caries removal.

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality and Interactive Simulators on Dental Education Outcomes: Systematic Review

“…The detailed characteristics of the included studies are shown in Table 1 . HT was the most used in 18 of the selected studies, 12 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 VR simulator in three studies 39 40 41 and AR, 13 and interactive video games, 42 one study each. Access to all these technologies was through academic laboratories except in one study.…”

“…Four studies assessed VR on theoretical knowledge. 13,37,40,42 Results showed significant difference in 14 of the selected studies in manual clinical skills 12,13,23,27,[29][30][31][34][35][36][38][39][40][41] and two studies in theoretical knowledge. 37,40…”

The utility of haptic simulation in early restorative dental training: A scoping review

“…Some researchers focused on exploring task-specific haptic training, including endodontic access opening, 30 caries detection and removal, [31][32][33] patient-centered training, 34 and the use of a "playback" mode (i.e., recording procedures performed by experts that can be played back by stu-dents for training purposes). 35,36 Although the initial shortterm evaluation was successful, the long-term impact as well as the task specific details that lead to effective learning are yet to be determined.…”

Simuladores en odontología y la formación de habilidades clínicas

“…Osnes et al (25) 2020 Investigar la validez de constructo de un ejercicio de simulación del tratamiento de caries dental mediante realidad virtual y háptica como herramienta de aprendizaje en estudiantes de odontología preclínica.…”

“…En otro estudio realizado en Reino Unido en el 2020 por Osnes et al25 se compara el desempeño de 112 estudiantes de odontología de primer año con 17 odontólogos. Con el propósito de determinar la validez del constructo de simulación del tratamiento de caries dental mediante realidad virtual y háptica, para ello se realizó un ejercicio que consistía en la eliminación de caries, ubicada a lo largo de la unión amelodentinaria en un tiempo de 15 minutos.…”