Virtual reality and haptics in dental education: Implementation progress and lessons learned after a decade.

Area of Science:

• Dental Education Technology
• Virtual Reality in Healthcare

Background:

• Scarcity and lack of standardization in traditional dental training materials necessitated alternative solutions.
• Haptic virtual reality (VR) dental trainers offer a safe, repeatable platform for practicing irreversible dental procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the educational implementation of haptic VR dental trainers in dental schools.
• To evaluate the satisfaction levels of dental schools using these VR training devices.

Main Methods:

• A survey, the Dental Trainer User Inventory (DTUI), was developed and distributed to dental schools utilizing haptic VR dental trainers.
• The DTUI collected data on educational implementation and user satisfaction.

Main Results:

• Twenty-seven dental schools completed the survey, reporting a mean of 7 VR dental trainers per institution.
• VR trainers were often available from the first year but integrated into the curriculum by the third year in most cases.
• 66.7% of schools reported curricular integration, and 69.4% expressed satisfaction or high satisfaction with the devices.

Conclusions:

• Haptic VR dental trainers are being adopted in dental programs for education, research, and clinical training.
• While curricular changes and teacher acceptance pose challenges, the majority of schools are satisfied and recommend VR haptic dental trainers.
• These devices represent a valuable advancement in dental training environments.