The application of virtual reality and augmented reality in oral & maxillofacial surgery

Background: Virtual reality is the science of creating a virtual environment for the assessment of various anatomical regions of the body for the diagnosis, planning and surgical training. Augmented reality is the superimposition of a 3D real environment specific to individual patient onto the surgical filed using semi-transparent glasses to augment the virtual scene.. The aim of this study is to provide an over view of the literature on the application of virtual and augmented reality in oral & maxillofacial surgery. Methods: We reviewed the literature and the existing database using Ovid MEDLINE search, Cochran Library and PubMed. All the studies in the English literature in the last 10 years, from 2009 to 2019 were included. Results: We identified 101 articles related the broad application of virtual reality in oral & maxillofacial surgery. These included the following: Eight systematic reviews, 4 expert reviews, 9 case reports, 5 retrospective surveys, 2 historical perspectives, 13 manuscripts on virtual education and training, 5 on haptic technology, 4 on augmented reality, 10 on image fusion, 41 articles on the prediction planning for orthognathic surgery and maxillofacial reconstruction. Dental implantology and orthognathic surgery are the most frequent applications of virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual planning improved the accuracy of inserting dental implants using either a statistic guidance or dynamic navigation. In orthognathic surgery, prediction planning and intraoperative navigation are the main applications of virtual reality. Virtual reality has been utilised to improve the delivery of education and the quality of training in oral & maxillofacial surgery by creating a virtual environment of the surgical procedure. Haptic feedback provided an additional immersive reality to improve manual dexterity and improve clinical training. Conclusion: Virtual and augmented reality have contributed to the planning of maxillofacial procedures and surgery training. Few articles highlighted the importance of this technology in improving the quality of patients’ care. There are limited prospective randomized studies comparing the impact of virtual reality with the standard methods in delivering oral surgery education

Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and dentistry–A comprehensive review of literature

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has become a real challenge for healthcare providers around the world and has significantly affected the dental professionals in practices, universities and research institutions. The aim of this article was to review the available literature on the relevant aspects of dentistry in relation to COVID-19 and to discuss potential impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on clinical dentistry, dental education and research. Although the coronavirus pandemic has caused many difficulties for provision of clinical dentistry, there would be an opportunity for the dental educators to modernize their teaching approaches using novel digital concepts in teaching of clinical skills and by enhancement of online communication and learning platforms. This pandemic has also highlighted some of the major gaps in dental research and the need for new relevant knowledge to manage the current crisis and minimize the impact of such outbreaks on dentistry in the future. In conclusion, COVID-19 has had many immediate complications for dentistry of which some may have further long-term impacts on clinical practice, dental education and dental research

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications during Covid-19 pandemic among preclinical medical and dentistry students: a mini-review

The efficacy of online learning in delivering theoretical knowledge with appropriate content to students is imperative, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic era. Substantial interactive teaching materials were developed for higher education. However, some were designed immensely general, especially in fulfilling the syllabus of preclinical medical and dentistry students. Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive three-dimension (3D) experience that uses computers to overlay virtual information in the real world whereas virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated artificial recreation of a real-life experience or situation. Interestingly, both can be complemented and integrated into online and traditional teaching methods. Implementation of these technologies will increase the learning efficacy in understanding the human body’s anatomical and physiological changes in the normal or pathological state. As AR and VR technologies are continuously evolving, this review provides the preview and current updates on AR and VR applications in medical and dentistry education which may benefit the educators within these specialities

Education Technology in Orthodontics and Paediatric Dentistry during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Over the last decade, medical education changed from traditional teaching methods to telematic and networking scholar and e-learning approach. The objective of the present systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness and teachers/student’s acceptability of e-learning applied to the field of orthodontics and paediatric dentistry. A database search of the literature was conducted on PubMed and Embase databases from January 2005 to May 2021. A total of 172 articles were identified by the electronic search, while a total of 32 papers were selected for qualitative analysis. Overall, 19 articles investigated the effectiveness of e-learning, and no difference of acceptability was reported between e-learning and traditional methods for a wide part of the articles selected. A total of 25 papers provided a satisfaction questionnaire for learners and all were positive in their attitude towards e-learning. The results showed that e-learning is an effective method of instruction, complementing the traditional teaching methods, and learners had a positive attitude and perception. The evidence of the present study reported a high level of acceptability and knowledge level of e-learning techniques, compared to frontal lecture methods, in the fields of orthodontics and paediatric dentistry

Game-Based Learning, Gamification in Education and Serious Games

The aim of this book is to present and discuss new advances in serious games to show how they could enhance the effectiveness and outreach of education, advertising, social awareness, health, policies, etc. We present their use in structured learning activities, not only with a focus on game-based learning, but also on the use of game elements and game design techniques to gamify the learning process. The published contributions really demonstrate the wide scope of application of game-based approaches in terms of purpose, target groups, technologies and domains and one aspect they have in common is that they provide evidence of how effective serious games, game-based learning and gamification can be

Periodontal Disease

This book aims to provide readers with the latest updates and an informative overview of the most successful diagnostic aids for periodontal diseases. This book is divided into three sections. Section 1 discusses the periodontal disease pathogenesis and how the disease develops and the contributing factors in disease development. Section 2 includes three chapters that focus mainly on the most common and recent biomarkers that aid in diagnosis of periodontal diseases. Section 3 includes one chapter and discusses a non-surgical treatment modality that could provide definite improvement in the mild to moderate conditions in periodontal diseases

Digital education for health professionals: an evidence map, conceptual framework, and research agenda

Background: Health professions education has undergone major changes with the advent and adoption of digital technologies worldwide.Objective: This study aims to map the existing evidence and identify gaps and research priorities to enable robust and relevant research in digital health professions education.Methods: We searched for systematic reviews on the digital education of practicing and student health care professionals. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Educational Research Information Center, CINAHL, and gray literature sources from January 2014 to July 2020. A total of 2 authors independently screened the studies, extracted the data, and synthesized the findings. We outlined the key characteristics of the included reviews, the quality of the evidence they synthesized, and recommendations for future research. We mapped the empirical findings and research recommendations against the newly developed conceptual framework.Results: We identified 77 eligible systematic reviews. All of them included experimental studies and evaluated the effectiveness of digital education interventions in different health care disciplines or different digital education modalities. Most reviews included studies on various digital education modalities (22/77, 29%), virtual reality (19/77, 25%), and online education (10/77,13%). Most reviews focused on health professions education in general (36/77, 47%), surgery (13/77, 17%), and nursing (11/77, 14%). The reviews mainly assessed participants' skills (51/77, 66%) and knowledge (49/77, 64%) and included data from high-income countries (53/77, 69%). Our novel conceptual framework of digital health professions education comprises 6 key domains (context, infrastructure, education, learners, research, and quality improvement) and 16 subdomains. Finally, we identified 61 unique questions for future research in these reviews; these mapped to framework domains of education (29/61, 47% recommendations), context (17/61, 28% recommendations), infrastructure (9/61, 15% recommendations), learners (3/61, 5% recommendations), and research (3/61, 5% recommendations).Conclusions: We identified a large number of research questions regarding digital education, which collectively reflect a diverse and comprehensive research agenda. Our conceptual framework will help educators and researchers plan, develop, and study digital education. More evidence from low-and middle-income countries is needed.Public Health and primary carePrevention, Population and Disease management (PrePoD

Business Plan: dental monitoring

There is huge potential for improvement of the healthcare industry through the use of emerging technologies. The problem, however, is, that due to heavy regulation there are just few technology- based solutions that are utilised and the dental market particularly is not yet digitalised. As a basis for the business model, the current state of the art of technology and the adaptiveness capacity in healthcare was analysed. The outcome demonstrates, that there is an immense need for patient- centred solutions and that digital transformation in healthcare often fails due to the complex implication. Furthermore, trends and challenges have been analysed, which reveal that the main challenge is a lack of societal acceptance for current data protection regulations. The main trends are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and wearable medical devices. The internal analysis comes up with strategy propositions to turn the market potential into an actual income stream, and design the service in a way, that is easy to use and avoids the challenges outlined above. Finally, the income statement underpins the business´ potential in the market with numbers, based on assumptions and findings. To get key insights and prove the businesses relevance, the business model was presented to 20 dental market experts, who filled out a survey to gather data and draw conclusions from it. The primary research uncovered that the trends detected are relevant and the market need for such a solution is identified. Generally, the results are in line with the business model´s solution and its expectations.There is huge potential for improvement of the healthcare industry through the use of emerging technologies. The problem, however, is, that due to heavy regulation there are just few technology- based solutions that are utilised and the dental market particularly is not yet digitalised. As a basis for the business model, the current state of the art of technology and the adaptiveness capacity in healthcare was analysed. The outcome demonstrates, that there is an immense need for patient- centred solutions and that digital transformation in healthcare often fails due to the complex implication. Furthermore, trends and challenges have been analysed, which reveal that the main challenge is a lack of societal acceptance for current data protection regulations. The main trends are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and wearable medical devices. The internal analysis comes up with strategy propositions to turn the market potential into an actual income stream, and design the service in a way, that is easy to use and avoids the challenges outlined above. Finally, the income statement underpins the business´ potential in the market with numbers, based on assumptions and findings. To get key insights and prove the businesses relevance, the business model was presented to 20 dental market experts, who filled out a survey to gather data and draw conclusions from it. The primary research uncovered that the trends detected are relevant and the market need for such a solution is identified. Generally, the results are in line with the business model´s solution and its expectations

European position paper on rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps 2020

The European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020 is the update of similar evidence based position papers published in 2005 and 2007 and 2012. The core objective of the EPOS2020 guideline is to provide revised, up-to-date and clear evidence-based recommendations and integrated care pathways in ARS and CRS. EPOS2020 provides an update on the literature published and studies undertaken in the eight years since the EPOS2012 position paper was published and addresses areas not extensively covered in EPOS2012 such as paediatric CRS and sinus surgery. EPOS2020 also involves new stakeholders, including pharmacists and patients, and addresses new target users who have become more involved in the management and treatment of rhinosinusitis since the publication of the last EPOS document, including pharmacists, nurses, specialised care givers and indeed patients themselves, who employ increasing self-management of their condition using over the counter treatments. The document provides suggestions for future research in this area and offers updated guidance for definitions and outcome measurements in research in different settings. EPOS2020 contains chapters on definitions and classification where we have defined a large number of terms and indicated preferred terms. A new classification of CRS into primary and secondary CRS and further division into localized and diffuse disease, based on anatomic distribution is proposed. There are extensive chapters on epidemiology and predisposing factors, inflammatory mechanisms, (differential) diagnosis of facial pain, allergic rhinitis, genetics, cystic fibrosis, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, immunodeficiencies, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis and the relationship between upper and lower airways. The chapters on paediatric acute and chronic rhinosinusitis are totally rewritten. All available evidence for the management of acute rhinosinusitis and chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps in adults and children is systematically reviewed and integrated care pathways based on the evidence are proposed. Despite considerable increases in the amount of quality publications in recent years, a large number of practical clinical questions remain. It was agreed that the best way to address these was to conduct a Delphi exercise . The results have been integrated into the respective sections. Last but not least, advice for patients and pharmacists and a new list of research needs are included