JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the dental health care industry upgrading, the demands of talent have increased. Dental technicians should be thoroughly assessed and trained in practical skills and pass professional certification examinations to ensure that they are competent to work closely with dentists. Unfortunately, such training and testing are in short supply worldwide. The use of virtual simulation technology can help solve the related problems.

Objective:

This study presents a new strategic framework design of certified dental technician (CDT) practical examination based on OSCE, the Certified Objective Manipulative Skill Examination of Dental Technicians (OMEDT). Then, we present the development and validation of a new virtual simulated training system, the OMEDT system, to meet the demands of the OMEDT framework. The combination of OMEDT and the OMEDT system can solve the complex problem of the practice examination of certified dental technicians（CDTs）with increased training opportunities for dental technicians with excellent efficiency, high quality, and low cost.

Methods:

The OMEDT framework design was constructed according to the and the national vocational skill standard for dental technicians, presented by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China. To develop the OMEDT system, we organized a new framework based on the Virtual Learning Network Platform (VLNP), the haptic feedback system, and the Real-time Dental Training and Evaluation System (RDTES). During development, thirty-six students majoring in dental technology were recruited to join a seven-week test to evaluate the effectiveness of the OMEDT system.

Results:

OMEDT and the OMEDT system have been developed, and preliminary user evaluation on the demo module has been carried out to gain knowledge. The OMEDT system has proven its ability to improve student professional performance by training with the evaluation results. In addition, several key research topics are further explored, including the positive feedback of knowledge of results on the improvement of students' skill level and the common sense transformation of educators under the virtual simulation technology environment.

Conclusions:

The development of OMEDT and OMEDT system has been completed and their effectiveness has been verified.