Evaluation of Application Effect of Virtual Simulation Technology and 3D Digital Head‐Mounted Loupes in Oral Surgery Anesthesia Teaching

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to explore the application effects of virtual simulation technology and 3D digital head-mounted loupes in oral surgery anesthesia teaching. METHODS: In November 2024, an experimental study on a local anesthesia model was conducted with 104 dental students, who were randomly assigned to one of four groups using a random number table. Assignment was based on two factors: whether they had received training with virtual simulation experiments and/or demonstration with 3D digital head-mounted loupes. The simulation head model + on-site teaching group (FX group, control group) and the simulation head model + 3D digital head-mounted loupes group (FL group) practiced the operation on a simulated head model, while the virtual simulation + simulation head model + on-site teaching group (VFX group) and the virtual simulation + simulation head model + 3D digital head-mounted loupes group (VFL group) first completed training on the virtual simulation system before proceeding to the simulated head model. After the practice, the students in the FX and VFX group directly watched the instructor's demonstration on site, and the FL and VFL group watched the real-time operation video on a screen, transmitted through the 3D digital head-mounted loupes worn by instructors. Then, students engaged in peer-to-peer operational practice. At the end of the course, all participants completed a theoretical knowledge test and an anonymous teaching satisfaction survey. RESULTS: The satisfaction survey showed that more than 86.5% of students thought that the virtual simulation system can improve their learning interest, operational skills, and theoretical knowledge. Both the VFL group (90.52) and the VFX group (89.26) showed significantly higher total scores compared to the FX group (86.48) (p < 0.05). After the innovative teaching process, the average score of the theoretical examination in the VFL group increased from 89.54 to 93.75 (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: In the teaching process of anesthesia injection, the application of virtual simulation system and 3D digital head-mounted loupes are more conducive for dental undergraduates to improve their operation skills and theoretical knowledge than traditional teaching methods, which demonstrates significant pedagogical value in the preclinical teaching of local anesthesia.