Background
To compare the effect of virtual simulation and jaw model on the development of pre-clinical periodontal skills in undergraduate students and to improve future pre-clinical training strategies.
Methods
Sixty volunteer sophomores and juniors from the stomatology at Lanzhou University were enrolled in the current study and randomly divided into four groups: Jaw model (Group J, the control group), Virtual reality (Group V), Virtual-Jaw (Group V-J), and Jaw-Virtual (Group J-V). All of the participants received training on uniform basic periodontal knowledge before completing the first theoretical assessment. Then, they obtained total 8 hours of operation training and completed a second theoretical assessment. Their performance was evaluated using the supragingival scaling processes, and clinical operation scores were graded by a blinded professional using an established standard scoring system.
Results
There was no significant difference in the first theoretical outcomes between the four groups (P > 0.05). The second theoretical scores of the V-J and J-V group (60.00 ± 4.47, 58.33 ± 4.35) were significantly improved as compared with the first theoretical scores (49.67 ± 4.81, 48.00 ± 4.93, P < 0.05). The operation process scores of students in Group V-J and J-V (72.00 ± 5.92; 70.00 ± 3.05) were higher than those in the other two groups (V: 61.67 ± 7.85; J: 60.67 ± 2.58). Additionally, the scaling process performance of students in Group V-J and J-V (53.00 ± 3.05; 63.40 ± 4.39) was improved as compared with that of students in the other two groups (V: 41.90 ± 5.23; J: 47.40 ± 4.31).
Conclusion
The combination of virtual reality and jaw model during periodontal pre-clinical training may improve students’ grades and help them develop professional skill. More importantly, we suggest that the jaw model should be applied prior to virtual reality.