Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 6:6:1592095.
doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1592095. eCollection 2025.

Integrating haptic simulation in dentistry: faculty insights and future directions

Danya Hashem  1 , Abeer Farag  1   2 , Amnah A Algarni  1 , Rania Zahran Mubarak  1 , Nisreen Nabiel Hassan  1 , Anfal Alqussier  1 , Somaya Ali Saleh  1   3
Affiliations

Integrating haptic simulation in dentistry: faculty insights and future directions

Danya Hashem et al. Front Oral Health. .

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluate the knowledge of faculty members about haptic virtual reality simulation (HVRS) in dentistry and assess faculty members' perception towards the use of HVRS in dental education.

Methods: This interventional study involved distributing a questionnaire to 29 faculty members from different dental specialties as a baseline before attending a hands-on workshop on HVRS followed by another questionnaire distributed after the workshop. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 26, employing chi-squared tests for statistical significance.

Results: Around 69% of faculty members had heard of HVRS prior to the study, but 86% had no prior experience using it. There was an increase in the willingness to use HVRS in teaching and to be included as an adjunct to pre-clinical and clinical training after attending the workshop. Post-training assessments indicated a significant shift in perceptions, with faculty expressing high satisfaction regarding the ergonomic design, visual system, and usability of the Simodont® simulator. Participants agreed that HVRS could enhance students' manual skills and self-evaluation capabilities.

Conclusion: Faculty members at Taibah University expressed a positive perception of the use of HVRS in dental education and a willingness to adopt HVRS as a teaching aid. They intend to incorporate it into pre-clinical and clinical training. Although the study has a small sample size, it highlights the need for ongoing faculty training to facilitate the integration of HVRS technology in dental education, while also calling for further research to explore its long-term effects on learning outcomes.

Keywords: clinical training; dental education; faculty perception; haptic virtual reality simulation; simodont dental trainer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
HVRS simodont® trainer and its components.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rodrigues P, Nicolau F, Norte M, Zorzal E, Botelho J, Machado V, et al. Preclinical dental students self-assessment of an improved operative dentistry virtual reality simulator with haptic feedback. Sci Rep. (2023) 13(1):2823. 10.1038/s41598-023-29537-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Al-Saud LM, Mushtaq F, Allsop MJ, Culmer PC, Mirghani I, Yates E, et al. Feedback and motor skill acquisition using a haptic dental simulator. Eur J Dent Educ. (2017) 21(40):240–7. 10.1111/eje.12214 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yamaguchi S, Yoshida Y, Noborio H, Murakami S, Imazato S. The usefulness of a haptic virtual reality simulator with repetitive training to teach caries removal and periodontal pocket probing skills. Dent Mater J. (2013) 32(5):847–52. 10.4012/dmj.2013-174 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Farag A, Hashem D. Impact of the haptic virtual reality simulator on dental students’ psychomotor skills in preclinical operative dentistry. Clin Pract. (2021) 12(1):17–26. 10.3390/clinpract12010003 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Imran E, Adanir N, Khurshid Z. Significance of haptic and virtual reality simulation (VRS) in the dental education: a review of literature. Appl Sci. (2021) 11(21):10196. 10.3390/app112110196 - DOI