Haptic Feedback's Role in Dental Implantology Virtual Simulations: A Multicohort Analysis

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Virtual Reality Simulation
• Haptic Technology

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) simulations are increasingly used in dental education.
• Haptic feedback technology offers potential for enhanced realism and skill acquisition in VR.
• The specific impact of haptic feedback on learning outcomes in dental implantology training remains under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of haptic feedback in a dental virtual simulation on learner performance, usability, and self-confidence.
• To compare outcomes between novice and advanced dental students.
• To evaluate the agreement between expert and automated scoring in virtual simulations.

Main Methods:

• A randomized crossover design was employed with novice and advanced dental students.
• Participants used a dental implantology VR simulation with and without haptic feedback (Haply Robotics haptic arm).
• Learner performance, usability, and self-confidence were assessed, along with expert vs. software scoring.

Main Results:

• Advanced students demonstrated significantly higher performance than novices, validating the simulation's construct.
• Usability and self-confidence were enhanced when haptic feedback was experienced after the haptic-disabled condition (order effect).
• No significant performance improvements were observed with haptic feedback; expert-software score agreement was moderate to poor.

Conclusions:

• Portable haptic technology holds value for dental training, though its direct impact on performance requires further study.
• Validated assessment tools and usability metrics are needed for VR dental simulations.
• A learning sequence starting with haptic-disabled simulations followed by haptic-enabled ones may optimize usability and self-confidence.