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Background/purpose: The haptic 3D virtual reality dental training simulator has been drawn attention as a educational strategy in Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feature of the haptics simulator in comparison with a conventional mannequin simulator by analyzing the assessment of products prepared by dental students using these two kinds of simulator. Materials and methods: The subjects were 30 students in the sixth-year classes of the faculty of dentistry. Abutments for a full cast crown were prepared by each subject using two kinds of simulator; one is the haptics simulator and the other is a mannequin simulator. For the resulted products, occlusal surface form, margin design, surface smoothness, taper angle, total cut volume and overall impression were rated by 3 evaluators. Score differences between two simulators were statistically analyzed. Results: The kinds of simulator affected subject performance for margin design and total cut volume. The differences in cutting feeling between the simulators as well as variation of stereoscopic ability in subjects were considerable reasons. Evaluators’ rating was affected by difference in simulators for occlusal surface form, total cut volume, and overall impression. This may have been due to variation of stereoscopic ability in evaluators. Conclusion: The unique characteristics of virtual reality, such as the simulated cutting sensation and the simulated three-dimensional images created by stereo viewers, affect operators’ performance and evaluators’ rating. It was suggested that educational programs need to be constructed taking account of the characteristics of virtual reality to make the best use of the haptics simulator.

In recent years, the society requires a flexible response of the dental society to deal with changes in disease structure in the super-aging society in Japan. Regarding quality of dental care, we need to ensure quality of clinical environment, dental professionals and the system. As globalization expands, the health care professionals move to another country to work. In the European Union(EU), the quality assurance system for the graduated European dentist through the activities in undergraduate education has been established and a similar approach is ongoing in the region of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. After the registration, the continuing professional development (CPD) system takes a role on quality assurance for dentist. The DentCPD was an approach to create a standard for CPD in the EU. Regarding the quality assurance system in Japanese dentistry, there were systematic approaches, establishing the model core curriculum in dental education, the common achievement test. Besides them, the quality assurance system for dentist has not been established except the voluntary life-long learning program of the Japan Dental Association. Predicting changes of the society to have quality control for dental professionals, we should prepare the system like the CPD system which matches level of the global standard. Keywords: Dental education, Quality assurance, Continuing professional development (CPD)

Background/purpose: Hypertension is a risk factor for stroke and heart disease. Psycho-social reasons are thought to influence blood pressure fluctuation in the dental clinic, but no previous studies have investigated these relationships. In this study, we analyzed a correlation between patients’ blood pressure values and their backgrounds. Materials and methods: We measured blood pressure in 4990 outpatients at our hospital. After determining the age groups in which blood pressure deviated from national averages, patients were classified into the Hypertension group and Normal group. Differences between these groups with regard to the prevalence of systemic disease, dental history and reasons for dental consultation were analyzed. Results: Average systolic blood pressure of males in their 20's, 30's, 40's and females in their 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's was significantly higher than national averages. In these age groups, disease prevalence was significantly higher in the Hypertension group than in the Normal group. Furthermore, the Hypertension group expressed psycho-social reasons for dental consultation more frequently than the Normal group. Conclusion: Relatively younger patients tended to show higher systolic blood pressure. It was suggested that psycho-social backgrounds as well as medical causes influenced the blood pressure increase. Keywords: Hypertension, Biopsychosocial model, First visit medical interview