key: cord-0903850-2i1ig45q
authors: Iyer, Parvati; Aziz, Kalid; Ojcius, David M.
title: Response to Letter to the Editor on article titled “Impact of COVID‐19 on dental education in the United States”
date: 2020-08-16
journal: J Dent Educ
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.12372
sha: 91da33dc9f4ab0976232f96bd240328c0bdffb06
doc_id: 903850
cord_uid: 2i1ig45q

nan

The authors thank the reader for the comments and suggestions regarding ideas in this paper.

The reader brings another solution and adds a valid approach to the new challenge of teaching technical skills during this pandemic. According to a recent paper by Murbay et al. 1 published in Feb 2020 in the European Journal of Dental Education, haptic technology has its merits when used appropriately. This technology could be evaluated for its fit in the curriculum when time and resources become available. Virtual reality may close the gap between preclinical and clinical education for dental students. As far as pre-clinical instruction, we agree that there is no substitute for direct supervision and immediate feedback for improving fine motor skills, especially when the students are novices. Portable mannequins with electric handpieces would be great for students to practice at home after they have had a chance to learn from the instructors in the simulation lab with social distancing. With newer, better, economical options available in the market, and the possibility of social distancing permanently in place for the near future, we may need to consider this as a viable option. Unfortunately, since competency in dental education warrants a complex set of skills, it may be difficult to substitute clinical experiences completely.

On the bright side: we are all sharing ideas and learning as we go along and may need to improvise as we see fit.

We thank you again for engaging in this discussion. Sincerely,

Evaluation of the introduction of a dental virtual simulator on the performance of undergraduate dental students in the pre-clinical operative dentistry course