Preclinical dental students self-assessment of an improved operative dentistry virtual reality simulator with haptic feedback

Abstract

To test and evaluate the second installment of DENTIFY, a virtual reality haptic simulator for Operative Dentistry (OD), on preclinical dental students, by focusing on user performance and self-assessment. Twenty voluntary unpaid preclinical dental students, with different background experience, were enrolled for this study. After the completion of an informed consent, a demographic questionnaire, and being introduced to the prototype (on the first testing session), three testing sessions followed (S1, S2, S3). Each session involved the following steps: (I) free experimentation; (II) task execution; S3 also included (III) completion of questionnaires associated with the experiment (total of 8 Self-Assessment Questions (SAQ)); and (IV) guided interview. As expected, drill time decreased steadily for all tasks when increasing prototype use, verified by RM ANOVA. Regarding performance metrics (Comparisons by Student’s t-test and ANOVA) recorded at S3, in overall, a higher performance was verified for participants with the following characteristics: female, non-gamer, no previous VR experience and with over 2 semesters of previous experience of working on phantom models. The correlation between the participants’ performance (drill time), for the four tasks, and user self-assessment evaluation, verified by Spearman’s rho analysis, allowed to conclude that a higher performance was observed in students who responded that DENTIFY improved their self perception of manual force applied. Regarding the questionnaires, Spearman’s rho analysis showed a positive correlation between the improvement DENTIFY inputs on conventional teaching sensed by students, also enhancing their interest in learning OD, their desire to have more simulator hours and the improvement sensed on manual dexterity. All participating students adhered well to the DENTIFY experimentation. DENTIFY allows for student self-assessment and contributes to improving student performance. Simulators with VR and haptic pens for teaching in OD should be designed as a consistent and gradual teaching strategy, allowing multiplicity of simulated scenarios, bimanual manipulation, and the possibility of real-time feedback to allow for the student’s immediate self-assessment. Additionally, they should create performance reports per student to ensure self-perception/criticism of their evolution over longer periods of learning time.

Enhancing learning experiences in pre-clinical restorative dentistry: the impact of virtual reality haptic simulators

“…In order to achieve the aforementioned objectives, and ensure student competency, the right tools must be provided to mimic real clinical cases and provide a smooth transition to clinics, with the ultimate goal of patient safety and satisfaction. VRHS are currently used as pedagogical tools for training students in the pre-clinical stage [ 22 , 23 ]. They have evolved extensively over the last decade, being considered “ergonomically accurate” by educators, demonstrating its reliability and capacity to provide a learning environment that enhances student learning and practice experiences [ 24 , 25 ].…”

“…One of the core applications of VRHS in undergraduate dental education is related to caries removal and cavity preparation [ 15 ]. Currently, most dental schools use tooth models to train students on caries removal and cavity preparations.…”

"Introducing Haptic Simulation as a Teaching Method in Odontology in Mexico. What the COVID-19 Pandemic Left Us"

“…At the Egas Moniz School of Health and Science, 20 preclinical dental students enrolled a study aiming to determine whether the use of haptic simulation with the DENTIFY™ equipment was in accordance to the results obtained with the traditional phantom model, during operative dentistry training. Participants performed different tasks all related to cavities creation in different teeth, obtaining a significant improvement when they had previous training by using the haptic simulation [30]. In this regard, a recent generation of dental devices based in virtual reality through haptic simulation has been introduced in the market, there are robotic devices that simulate the clinical environment in a very accurate way, there are devices equipment with advanced features, and others with minimal software development [19].…”

Perception of the learning process under the context of virtuality in dental students

“…La simulación virtual con tecnología háptica, se viene desarrollando en diferentes áreas tales como, periodoncia, rehabilitación, cirugía, anestesia, y endodoncia. Esta técnica ha demostrado tener un impacto positivo en cuanto a las destrezas manuales que el estudiante debe adoptar en la etapa preclínica 14 . Así mismo, la UNMSM implementó como herramienta tecnológica para la asignatura de PPR un software educativo bidimensional llamado SEDUPPR.…”