3D Dentistry Training Tool Unveiled

Tue, 25 Mar 2008

Dental students in the US have been given the chance to carry out virtual reality treatment thanks to the development of a new lifelike dental training simulator.

Developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's colleges of dentistry and engineering, the PerioSim tool uses haptic virtual reality to simulate the sensation of touching, poking and scraping in a patient’s mouth – allowing students to ‘feel' their way through an on-screen 3D mouth.

By using a stylus, students are able to navigate through various periodontal procedures including examining calculi on the tooth root, measuring pocket depth, detecting calculus and applying treatment through post-surgical evaluation.

The interface also allows users to adjust the model position, viewpoint, and transparency level of the ‘virtual' mouth, while instructors can create short scenarios of periodontal procedures, which can be saved and replayed at any time.

Users can replay scenes from any angle, enabling them to observe different views of the placement of the instrument and gingival relationships during a procedure.

Dr Arnold Steinberg, professor of periodontics at UIC, said: "We can enhance the learning and training of a wide variety of tasks or procedures using this system ."

"The need to practice on mannequins, animals and patients can be significantly reduced, and in some cases, eliminated entirely."

Students can access a video of the PerioSim simulator in action online at: Youtube.com/watch?v=XvX6b3mRqns
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