Evaluating navigation-system for dental implants in training novice dental practitioners

Purpose: Evaluating the benefits of virtual reality navigation system for teaching the surgical stage of dental implants to final year dental students. The study aimed to assess the students' performance in dental implantation assignments, comparing freehand protocols with use of virtual reality navigation. Material and Methods: Forty final year dentistry students without previous experience in dental implant surgery were given an implantation assignment comprising three tasks. Marking, drilling and widening of implant holes were executed by a freehand protocol on both mandibular sides by one group, and by virtual reality navigation on one side and contralaterally with the freehand protocol, by the second group. Subjective and objective assessments of the performance were graded. Results: Marking with the navigation system was more accurate than by the standard protocol. Both groups performed similarly in the 2 mm drilling on both mandibular sides. The widening of the two mesial holes to 3 mm was significantly better on the second execution in the standard protocol group but not in the navigation group. The navigation group's second site freehand drilling of the molar was significantly worse than the first. The execution of all assignments was significantly faster in the freehand group than the navigation group (60.75 min vs. 77.25 min, p=0.02). Self assessment matched only partly the objective measurements and it was more realistic in the standard protocol group. Conclusions: Despite the enhanced performance with the navigation system, the added value of training in dental implant surgery with virtual reality navigation was minimal.