Simodont Dental Trainer

Simodont Dental Trainer

• Essence

  Practice

  Simodont Dental Trainer is a top quality, highly reliable dental simulator. Students use Simodont Dental Trainer to develop their manual skills in a realistic virtual world, while getting feedback on their decisions and abilities. Simodont is changing the way that students learn and the way in which they master competences.

  Operation

  The Simodont Dental Trainer consists of a small projection screen (in the position normally occupied by a patient) onto which is projected an image of the mouth and teeth. Users wear stereoscopic spectacles, which allow them to view the images in 3D. A physical drill handle is situated below the screen. It has a virtual tip, which can be used to drill into the projected teeth.

  If the virtual drill comes into contact with a virtual element, then the student has the same tactile sensation as they would with a real tooth. This is unique to the Simodont. It uses virtual teeth but these feel real when you touch them with the drill. Healthy enamel feels harder than carious tissue, for example.

  Simulator and courseware

  The Simodont Dental Trainer project is not limited to the development of a simulator that enables students to drill virtual holes in virtual teeth. It forms the heart of an entire learning system - the courseware. Students have to treat the problems presented by the simulator, while taking the patient’s history into account. Students start with the courseware. They are then presented with a problem, after which they draw up a treatment plan, and select virtual instruments. Only then do they start work at the simulator. While students are drilling, the courseware is in constant communication with the simulator.

  If a student’s drill penetrates the enamel and enters the dentine, the simulator recognises this and communicates this information to the courseware. When instructing students about a particular case, and if it useful to do so, the simulator can be paused and a relevant question will appear on the courseware screen. This creates a link between theory and practice that is difficult to achieve in the context of current preclinical training.

• Experiences

  Several ACTA employees are involved in the Simodont Dental Trainer project. The following are comments on the project by some of these members of staff.

  Developers

  "Simodont Dental Trainer is truly groundbreaking. It's great fun and very exciting to be able to pioneer the use of the latest technology, and to combine various items of software, hardware and 3D models to achieve a realistic simulation. However, we are not satisfied with the prototypes until they are operationally stable and until the students and lecturers are pleased about the way they work. For us, that is what it is all about.”

  • Bassam Hassam (3D-models)
  • Dirk Bakker (dental expertise)
  • Pepijn Koopman (courseware)

  Dentist-lecturers

  ACTA dentist-lecturers have acquainted themselves with Simodont Dental Trainer. They have tested this new teaching method. Input from dentist-lecturers is essential for the further development of this system. Simodont Dental Trainer offers lecturers new options for giving students feedback on their exercises and skills.

• Research

  • The Effect of Force Feedback in a Virtual Learning Environment on the Performance and Satisfaction of Dental Students
    IR de Boer, ML Lagerweij, MW de Vries, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2017 - Simul Healthc 2017 Apr 12 doi: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000208
  • Student performance and appreciation using 3D vs. 2D vision in a virtual learning environment
    IR de Boer, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2016 - Eur J Dent Educ. 2016 Aug 20 doi: 10.1111/eje.12152
  • Student performance in 3D versus 2D vision in a virtual learning environment
    IR de Boer, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2014 - Poster
  • The effect of self determining the test moment on students’ test performance
    DR Bakker, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2014 - Poster
  • Evaluation of the appreciation of virtual teeth with and without pathology
    IR de Boer, ML Lagerweij, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2013 - Eur J Dent Educ. 2014 Jul 15 doi: 10.1111/eje.12108
  • The creation of virtual teeth with and without tooth pathology for a virtual learning environment in dental education
    IR de Boer, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2013 - Eur J Dent Educ. 2013 Nov;17(4):191-7
  • Relation between time spent on practicing and test results on the Simodont
    DR Bakker, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2012 - Poster
  • Evaluation of the appreciation of virtual teeth with and without pathology
    IR de Boer, ML Lagerweij, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2012 - Poster
  • Innovations in education for the digital student (NL: Onderwijsinnovaties voor de digitale student)
    P Koopman, JM Vervoorn
    2012 - Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd 2012; 119: 286-290
  • The Simodont® in dental education (NL: De Simodont in het onderwijs)
    IR de Boer, DR Bakker, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2012 - Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd 2012; 119: 294-300
  • Simodont, A Haptic Dental Training Simulator Combined With Courseware
    P Koopman, J Buis, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2010 - Bio-algorithms and med-systems – Jagiellonian University Vol. 6, No. 11, 2010, pp. 117–122
  • Transfer of manual dexterity skills acquired on the simodont, a dental haptic trainer with a virtual  environment, to reality. A pilot study
    DR Bakker, ML Lagerweij, PR Wesselink, JM Vervoorn
    2010 - Bio-algorithms and med-systems – Jagiellonian University Vol. 6, No. 11, 2010, pp. 21–24
  • The perception of the level of realism of a dental training simulator (Simodont)
    JM Vervoorn
    2009 - Poster
  • Advantages of Simodont, a dental training simulator combined with courseware
    P Koopman, D Umanski, R Kulk, JM Vervoorn, PR Wesselink
    2009 - Poster
  • Student acceptance of the Simodont (Pilot study)
    DR Bakker, P Norton, N Rashty
    2009 - Poster

• Contacts and links

  Further details about Simodont Dental Trainer can be obtained from Dr. Marjoke Vervoorn. To this end, you can send an e-mail to: j.vervoorn@acta.nl

  Congress Poster

  During the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR) conference at Long Beach in the USA, in January 2009, ACTA gave a poster presentation on Simodont Dental Trainer. You can view poster via: ACTA conference poster.

  Moog

  ACTA is developing Simodont Dental Trainer in collaboration with Moog. This organisation specialises in haptic applications and robotics.