Haptic‑enabled virtual training in orthognathic surgery

Orthognathic surgery (OGS) is a very complex surgical procedure aiming to correct a wide range of skeletal and dental irregularities, including jaws and teeth misalignments. It requires a precise pre-surgical planning and high surgical skills that are traditionally acquired through years of hands-on training in the operating room or in laboratory-based surgical practices using cadavers or models. Although modern engineering technologies have led to the development or computer-aided surgical procedures and systems, surgical training in OGS still relies on the traditional physical hands-on approach. This paper presents the results of an investigation carried out with the aim to evaluate the use of haptics and virtual reality technologies as an OGS training tool. Three case studies corresponding to cephalometry training, osteotomy training and surgery planning training were conducted. Participants comprised novices and experts in the area of OGS. Surgical skills, performance and confidence of trainees, in addition to reducing execution times and errors associated with the traditional OGS process, indicate that the haptic-enabled virtual reality approach is an effective training tool.