JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Dental simulator is used in preclinical skills training and virtual reality is the main technology of it. With the development of XR technology, mixed reality appeared and it has significant advantage over virtual reality.

Objective:

This study intended to research and develop a mixed reality (MR) and haptic-based dental simulator for tooth preparation and preliminarily evaluate its face validity.

Methods:

A prototype of MR dental simulator for tooth preparation was innovatively developed by integrating the head-mounted display (HMD), special force feedback handles, foot pedal, computer hardware, and software program. Thirty-four participants were recruited and were divided into Novice group (N=17) and Skilled group (N=17) based on their clinical experience. All participants prepared a maxillary right central incisor for all ceramic crown in the dental simulator, and completed a questionnaire after the preparation to investigate their experience and evaluation toward the dental simulator in aspects of the hardware and software.

Results:

A prototype of MR dental simulator for tooth preparation (Unidental MR Simulator) was newly developed. 73.53% of the participants were satisfied with the overall experience in using Unidental MR Simulator. Over 90% of the participants agreed with that Unidental MR Simulator can stimulate their interest in learning and over 80 % of them were willing to use dental simulator Unidental MR Simulator for skills training in the future. The differences in the experience of the HMD, simulation of the dental instruments, realism of the force feedback of teeth, simulation of the tooth preparation process, overall experience of the simulator and attitudes toward the simulator between Novice group and Skilled group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Novice group were more satisfied with the ease of use of the simulator. (P<0.05). The resolution of the HMD and the simulation of the preparation process had significant positive correlations with the overall using experience of the simulator (P<0.05).

Conclusions:

The newly developed dental simulator for tooth preparation, Unidental MR simulator, has a good face validity. It can achieve a higher degree of similarity to the real clinical treatment environment by achieving position adjustment of patients, allowing users to have a better dental skill training experience.