A lot of what we're looking at is changing how we teach, so we teach more appropriately. Not only will students be able to learn clinical techniques, but faculty and professionals can be trained on new dental procedures. This provides the opportunity for dental and dental hygiene students to learn to work as a team, which is not possible with current simulators. The workstation features an ergonomically correct mannequin head with upper torso in the center. Two other mannequin heads allow for individual work on either side.
Computer screens allow video images to be sent to the students from the instructor's workstation.
These monitors have Internet capabilities, so students can surf the World Wide Web for assistance. Marilyn Ward, D.D.S., FAGD, will be part of the simulator test program. She says faculty will learn how to use them first, so they can be ready to instruct preclinical students on the new technology. Dr. Ward says the simulators will give students a feel of how it is to work on a real human being. They can only position it just like a human.