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Virtual education: Dental morphologies in a virtual teaching environment
Anja Liebermann1, Kurt Erdelt1
1Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Journal of Dental Education
|June 9, 2020
Summary
Preclinical dental students showed high acceptance for virtual reality (VR) learning, significantly improving their understanding of dental morphologies. This immersive VR technology is recommended for integration into dental curricula.
Area of Science:
- Dental Education
- Virtual Reality Technology
- Medical Simulation
Background:
- Digital technology is increasingly vital in student education.
- Virtual Reality (VR) offers immersive learning experiences.
- Traditional methods for teaching dental morphology have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate preclinical dental students' acceptance of virtual reality (VR) for learning dental morphologies.
- To assess the effectiveness of a VR dental teaching environment compared to traditional methods.
Main Methods:
- A VR dental learning environment was developed, featuring digital tooth morphology data.
- Preclinical dental students interacted with the VR environment using headsets and controllers.
- Student acceptance was evaluated via questionnaires, visual analogue scales, and fixed-answer options, with data analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.
Main Results:
- A significant majority of students (34.9% much better, 57.1% better) found VR improved their understanding of dental morphologies compared to textbooks.
- Students expressed willingness to invest approximately 500 euros privately for VR equipment.
- Haptic and auditory VR elements were perceived more favorably than purely visual components.
Conclusions:
- The VR dental learning environment demonstrated high acceptance among preclinical students.
- Integration of VR as a standard component in dental education is recommended.
- Further development for accessible, time- and location-independent VR learning is desirable.