Abstract
In recent years, virtual reality and interactive digital simulations have been used in dental education to train dental students before interacting with real patients. Scientific evidence presented the application of virtual technology in dental education and some recent publications suggested that virtual and haptic technologies may have positive effects on dental education outcomes. The aim of this systematic review was to determine whether virtual technologies have positive effects on dental education outcomes and to explore the attitudes of dental students and educators toward these technologies. A thorough search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE (via EBSCO), The Cochrane Library (via Wiley), Web of Science Core Collection (via Thomson Reuters), and Dentistry and Oral Science source (via EBSCO) using the keywords (student, dental) AND (education, dental) AND (virtual reality) OR (augmented reality) OR (haptics) OR (simulation) AND (dentistry) OR (dental medicine). The quality of the reported information was assessed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement for systematic reviews. A total of 73 publications were considered for this review. Fifty-two of the selected studies showed significant improvement in educational outcomes and virtual technologies were positively perceived by all the participants. Within the limitations of this review, virtual technology appears to improve education outcomes in dental students. Further studies with larger samples and longer term clinical trials are needed to substantiate this potential positive impact of various virtual technologies on dental education outcomes.
Highlights
In recent years, virtual reality (VR) simulations have been employed in dental education as an adjunctive to the traditional skill training curriculum to train dental students before interacting with actual patients.[1,2] Dental education differs from any other form of medical education as it is a combination of theory, laboratory, and clinical practice
Studies Included The study selection process for inclusion in this review is summarized in ►Fig. 1
Twelve additional articles were included after review of references
Summary
Virtual reality (VR) simulations have been employed in dental education as an adjunctive to the traditional skill training curriculum to train dental students before interacting with actual patients.[1,2] Dental education differs from any other form of medical education as it is a combination of theory, laboratory, and clinical practice. Since the breakthrough of the novel coronavirus SARS-Co-V-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) in late 2019,5 all essential activities were affected, calling for social distancing, and the traditional dental teaching models of one-on-one pedagogical design had to be partially replaced by digital or virtual setups to avoid the gathering of the youth in closed spaces
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