Exploring the Root of Sensorimotor Expertise in Dental Education

Humans are capable of remarkable feats of sensorimotor control, but it is a matter of common observation that some individuals are able to far exceed the capabilities of the general population in specific tasks. These individuals are often labelled experts in their domain, and it is well established that achieving such mastery requires many years of training and in some cases, it can be a life-long pursuit. In dentistry, we are faced with highly specific challenges with time constraints and importantly, all trainees who wish to practice must reach a level of expertise that allows them to operate safely with patients. To understand the development of expertise in dental training, and thus inform training protocols to support learning, this thesis examines the putative mechanisms underlying highly skilled performance. Using state of the art haptic virtual reality (VR) technology, this thesis first examines fundamental differences between experts and novice dentists across a variety of simulated dental tasks. We find that learning over a considerable period of time appear to be quantitively similar in expert and novice data set. We also found that expert performers can use their well-learned sensorimotor skill in a flexible manner to solve new tasks, have superior motor economy and shorter planning times. Moreover, the recruitment of cognitive control scales with the degree of behavioural adjustment following error commission. Having qualitatively and quantitively captured differences as a function of expertise, we ask whether haptic VR technology can be used to accelerate the learning process. Across two experiments, we show that actively manipulating user error during training can have a positive impact on learning and that task difficulty levels need to be tailored to an individual’s ability for valid and reliable assessments of trainees on the way to expertise. Taken together, this work presents a comprehensive examination of dental expertise and highlights the utility of haptic virtual reality technology in supporting the transition from novice to expert.