In the dental curriculum, the initial administration of local anaesthesia injection on live patients is critical and students may experience a high degree of anxiety. Low self-confidence often caused by insufficient knowledge of anatomy has been repeatedly reported as one of the major causes. In this paper, we focus on the development of a haptic training system based upon an accurate anatomical model, which aims to encourage self-paced learning of the practical skills that are required in such procedures and to increase students’ self-confidence. We first present the workflow we have considered to develop an accurate anatomical model of the human head and neck and introduce a Virtual Reality-based application commissioned by NHS Education for Scotland to support the learning of the anatomy in a safe and repeatable manner. Finally, we describe the functionalities of the haptic training system and discuss further developments with regard to existing research outcomes
