Train Strategies for Haptic and 3D Simulators to Improve the Learning Process in Dentistry Students

Abstract

Dental training faces the growing shortage of extracted teeth and the ethical precepts of Bionot learning on patients and reducing the environmental damage that preclinical trainings generate. Haptic and 3D simulators reproduce pathologies and provide a greater magnification of the processes, reducing water expenditure and pollution, but their curricular integration is complex. Two resources of complementary use (informative written manual and video tutorial) were designed to facilitate the theoretical and technical domain (know how the simulator works and make it work), as well as the advanced management of the simulator (operate the simulator autonomously, without setbacks). After 5 years of using these resources, an evaluative study was conducted with 175 students and 32 teachers. The aim was to assess the student’s perception of knowledge/learning, its statistical relationship with the didactic resources used and compare these results with the teachers’ perception of their students’ knowledge/learning. Spearman’s Rho coefficient and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were performed. Both students and teachers considered that the technical domain (make the simulator work) was the domain that prevailed the most. There was a tendency for students not to value much the necessity of a specific preparation prior to using the simulator. This tendency resulted in a low level of study of both the written manual and the video tutorial. In conclusion, both students and teachers considered that the best strategy of knowledge/learning was the direct exchange with the simulator.