Evaluation of a Vibrotactile Simulator for Dental Caries Detection.

INTRODUCTION: Developed to educate dental students in caries detection, the VerroTeach simulator allows dental faculty to share, record, and replay the tactile vibrations felt through a dental hand instrument. We assessed this simulation approach by asking experienced dental educators to evaluate the system's real-time and video playback modes. METHODS: VerroTeach uses an accelerometer to sense instrument vibrations and a voice coil actuator to reproduce these vibrations on another tool. Seventeen dental faculty participated in the study, first experiencing real-time mode by feeling vibrations while the experimenter touched extracted teeth. The subject then experienced vibrotactile playback of 5 prerecorded caries detection tasks and 1 prerecorded caries extraction procedure, making 10 total caries judgments and repeatedly rating the system's perceptual accuracy. RESULTS: Dental educators rated caries detection as significantly more difficult for students than experienced dentists (P < 0.0001), and they rated tactile feedback as a highly important source of information for this judgment. Subjects highly rated the realism of both real-time mode and playback mode. Experienced dentists performed well on the simulator, answering most questions correctly. Interestingly, nonpracticing dentists performed significantly worse than practicing dentists on the caries judgment questions (P = 0.003). Finally, subjects strongly recommended the system for training dental students. CONCLUSIONS: These positive results indicate that sharing, recording, and replaying instrument vibrations may be beneficial for teaching caries detection to dental students. Further research is planned to improve tactile feedback quality, integrate VerroTeach into the preclinical curriculum, and explore other possible applications for this approach to clinical simulation.

The use of independent, interactive media for education in dental morphology.

Educational researchers have argued for the addition of new technologies to enhance or replace traditional dental education modalities to more effectively engage and appeal to the new generation of dental students. Two- and three-dimensional interactive media technology is now available for implementation into curricula to teach to a next-generation paradigm. The purpose of this study was to analyze the introduction of a unique, online, totally independent learning module for dental morphology instruction, completely replacing the traditional classroom teaching of the topic, and to determine the relationship between its use and parameters depicting success in learning dental morphology. In particular, the authors hypothesized that the novice, preclinical dental student can learn dental morphology independently and efficiently this way. One-third of a 2010-11 first-year class of dental students were given an independent, interactive media module for the instruction of dental morphology. The remaining members of the class experienced the traditional course with classroom lectures. At the end of the module, a written examination and survey were given to both groups. The major findings were that the independent, interactive media module was just as effective as the traditional classroom method for successful dissemination of foundational knowledge in dental morphology; the independent study group performed significantly better on the didactic examination; the online module positively engaged the students; and students preferred the interactive media module but did not regard it as a total replacement for the traditional course.

The effect of magnification loupes on the performance of preclinical dental students.

OBJECTIVE: optical magnifying devices such as magnification loupes are increasingly used in clinical practice and educational settings. However, scientific evidence to validate their benefits is limited. This study assessed the effect of dental magnification loupes on psychomotor skill acquisition during a preclinical operative dentistry course. METHOD AND MATERIALS: the performance of first-year dental students was assessed during an Advanced Simulation Course (AS) using virtual reality-based technology (VRBT) training. The test group consisted of 116 dental students using magnification loupes (+MAG), while students not using them (-MAG, n = 116) served as the control. The following parameters were evaluated: number of successfully passing preparation procedures per course rotation, amount of time per tooth preparation, number of times students needed computer assistance and evaluation, and amount of time spent in the computer assistance and evaluation mode per procedure. Data were collected on each student through VRBT during the preparation procedure and stored on a closed network server computer. Unpaired t tests were used to analyze mean differences between the groups. In addition, student acceptance of magnification loupes was measured and evaluated through survey interpretation. RESULTS: +MAG students completed more preparations, worked faster per procedure, and used the computer-assisted evaluation less frequently and for shorter periods, therefore displaying greater overall performance. The survey revealed a high degree of student acceptance of using magnification. CONCLUSION: dental magnification loupes significantly enhanced student performance during preclinical dental education and were considered an effective adjunct by the students who used them.