Using augmented reality to enhance wax up training in dental education a feasibility study

Wax-up practice is an integral part of dental education, teaching students the morphology of teeth and correct handling of waxing tools. Currently wax-ups need to be presented and evaluated by a dentist involved in dental education. The aim of this study was the development of a smartphone application utilizing augmented reality to improve self-evaluation and learning effects of beginners doing wax-up practice. The application was developed for devices running the iOS operating-system using the Swift language. The Swift-libraries UIKit, ArKit and SceneKit were used. The application was test-run on an iPhone 14 Pro, using an iOS developer account. An integral component of the application is the use of 3D-printed wax-up templates, which were manufactured with FDM printers. The resulting smartphone application enables dental students and teaching dentists to inspect the wax-up template using the device's camera to view the optimal wax-up overlaying the template. Different cusps can be displayed, hidden or altered in their transparency to further improve feedback on the students' practice. The aim of creating a supportive application for wax-up practice as a proof of concept was fulfilled and even exceeded the initial expectations regarding the accuracy and consistency of object tracking in the augmented reality. The acceptance amongst students and teaching staff, as well as a comparison against traditional methods of teaching wax-up remain to be evaluated.