Dentists learn with virtual drill

To the high-pitched sound of numerous drills, students get to work removing a decayed tooth.

Their patients need not be afraid though, as these want-to-be dentists are practising on 3D virtual-reality jaws, not the real thing.

The 14 work stations lined up in a lab at Europe's largest dental school, King's College London, use a technology that allows the student to learn how much pressure they should use when drilling.

The device, called HapTEL (haptics in technology-enhanced learning), received the excellence in education innovation award at the Medical Futures ceremony earlier this month.

The project is a collaboration between dentists from Guy's Hospital, technical developers from Reading University and Birmingham City University, and e-learning professionals from King's College London.

How it works

The drill is based on haptics, a tactile feedback technology through which the user can sense touch and force in a virtual-reality environment.

The hub at the centre of the work station is based on that used in the gaming industry.

A foot pedal, recycled from an old dental chair, allows the student to operate the drill.

The work station lets the student feel the difference between drilling hard enamel and softer decayed tooth and helps them learn how much pressure is needed.

Prof Margaret Cox, who led the project, says: "When the students first learn, they lean very heavily on the drill and go straight through the tooth to the gum - which would be disastrous in a real patient. They also take ages. This allows the student to learn both skill and speed."

The student wears glasses that produce a 3D jaw on the computer screen. Panels on the edge of the glasses, and a head tracking camera, allow the jaw image to move relative to the student's head position, allowing them the real-world experience of examining the teeth from different angles.

Sadhvik Vijay, a second year student, says: "When you first come into dentistry everything is very alien to you, the way you position your hand, the tiny movements that you need to perform procedures - it is difficult.

"This allows you to repeat a task over and over again, it gets ingrained into your muscle memory, and improves your manual dexterity."

Stepping up the game

Students start by learning to remove a small bit of decayed material from a single tooth. The tasks then become more complex until they are removing decayed material hidden by healthy enamel set in a whole jaw.

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