Implant simulator

A realistic computer program will soon be used to help dental students learn dental implant procedures.

The Virtual Dental Implant Training Simulation Program is designed to help students in diagnostics, decision making and treatment protocols. It was designed by Medical College of Georgia (MCG) School of Dentistry faculty and students and BreakAway, a developer of game-based technology for training, experimentation and decision-making analysis.

Dental implants are tiny screws surgically placed in the jaw to act as artificial roots for prosthetic teeth. About 25 per cent of adults aged 60 and older no longer have any natural teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the need for this procedure could increase with the country's aging population.

The implant simulation program uses multiple patients and clinical scenarios that can be randomly selected, letting students interact with virtual patients by asking about their medical history, examining them and arriving at a diagnosis.