Hello. This is Cameron Cortejano with the Becker's
Dental and DSO review podcast.
I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor
Marci LaVine, clinical associate professor
of oral and maxillofacial
surgery at the NYU College of Dentistry.
Doctor LaVine, thank you so much for being
here today.
Thank you so much for having me.
Awesome.
To start us off today, can you just
introduce yourself and tell us a little bit
about your background?
Sure.
So my name is Marcy LaVine, and as
you said, I am a clinical associate professor
at the New York University College of Dentistry.
I received my dental and medical degrees from
Harvard,
and I completed my oral and maxillofacial
surgery residency training
at Harvard's Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
This year marks my 17th year at the
NYU College of Dentistry, and I was in
private practice in New York City
before I came to NYU.
At NYU, I teach dental students and oral
surgery residents, and I also treat my own
patients.
And over the past few years, my work
has primarily focused on the use of innovative
and modern technologies
to improve educational experiences for our students.
And as part of that work, I developed
a custom virtual reality simulation
to help teach and also test
students'
skills as they relate to local anesthesia.
And I am proud to say that my
simulation has now completely transformed
how we teach this subject at NYU College
of Dentistry.
Great. Thanks so much for that. The first
question we have today are, what are some
of the biggest issues that you're following in
the dental industry this year?
Mhmm.
So I think innovation
is number 1.
Dentistry right now is really at the forefront
of the use of technology,
and I'm really excited
about the integration
of modern technology, not only in education,
but also in everyday
clinical dental practice.
Some of the tools that we use to
teach our students at NYU College of Dentistry
include simulation,
web based programs, and also virtual reality.
And I think it's just a matter of
time before we even start to add augmented
reality to this simulation as well.
You know, many dentists in practice today are
also using modern technology
to treat their patients, such as use of
digital dentistry,
intraoral
scanners,
advanced
x-ray technology,
and even some robot assisted procedures,
such as dental implant surgery,
are now readily available to patients when they
see their dentist.
When I think about
teaching students, I'm also excited about using different
strategies
to address different learning styles.
NYU College of Dentistry
is the largest dental school in the country,
and having such a diverse student population
really helped me as a teacher
because I recognize that some of my students
learn through visual cues,
some of them prefer
auditory means, and some of them use both.
And by developing
the virtual reality simulation,
I really have a better understanding
of how students want to
learn information
and also assimilate it into clinical practice
so that they can be successful dentists when
they graduate.
Definitely. I I
see technology
really,
improving and advancing kinda
each and every day, month,
and year in in dentistry.
You talked about VR and AR a little
bit. What do you kinda see for the
future of those those kinda techs in in
the dental space?
I think that's a great question. I think
dentistry
has such a great opportunity
for students and educators
and practitioners
to use modern technology
that it's just a matter of time before
it becomes common in every office across the
country and in the world.
I see virtual reality as helping not only
students learn and perfect their ability to understand
and perform procedures,
but I see it also as a tool
in everyday practice.
I think virtual reality can help dentists
perform their procedures more efficiently.
I think virtual reality can also help patients
with
anxiety as they approach the dentist and coming
for dental procedures
because we know that it's not uncommon for
most dental patients to be anxious at least
a little bit. And I think it's also
interesting for dentists who maybe are older or
towards the end of their careers
who wanna learn about new technologies or refresh
their skills to use things like virtual reality
and augmented reality.
So I think VR and AR has a
wonderful
promise in the dental space, and I'm really
excited to see what the future holds.
Got it. Thanks. That makes a ton of
sense.
Something that I'm curious to get your thoughts
about are on what what are you most
excited about when it comes to the dental
space right now, and what are some things
that are potentially
making you a little bit nervous about about
dentistry?
Mhmm.
So I'm very excited,
to expand the use of virtual reality as
we've been talking about.
Also, all if you add augmented reality for
my students, they are my number one priority
and to give them as much hands on
experience in dental school
as they can. I've already seen the direct
impact
that the use of simulation
and VR has on students.
As they become more confident and they become
more comfortable,
they ultimately provide better care for patients, and
I think that is really the name of
the game.
On the other side, as a faculty member,
I can see my colleagues feeling more comfortable
as they supervise students and entrust them to
take care of patients
knowing
that their students are as well prepared as
they possibly can. And, also, I see the
patients
as being very excited. So I think it's
a it's a win win, and I'm excited
for the use of advanced technology in dental
education.
When I think about
what I'm nervous about,
yeah, I still have anxiety when I remember
my own experiences
as a dental student, and I was learning
to inject a patient
for the first time.
And I remember
those
sessions of working on each other. It was
very common for dental students
to learn through peer to peer interaction.
You would see someone, inject a patient
or a student or a peer, and then
you would have to do one. And it
was very anxiety provoking for all of us.
And I think if you ask
dentists of a certain age, it's very common
for people to relay similar experiences.
So I see
VR as a possible solution to allaying those
fears
because
it doesn't
it doesn't allow students to hurt themselves.
It gives them unlimited environment
an unlimited practice in a safe environment.
But my one concern is that when we
rely
totally on technology,
sometimes we forget about the human factor.
So I'm a little nervous that
technology should definitely be used as much as
it can into its full potential,
but to remember that it does not completely
erase
the necessary
training that students in health care industry and
also in dental education, of course, need to
maintain to have the right relationship with patients.
In other words, it's important for students to
feel apprehensive
when they work on patients because I think
if they were completely comfortable,
they would forget that it's not just a
tooth or it's not just an implant or
it's not just a denture.
It's a human being.
And I want my students to not be
scared,
but to have a healthy sense of the
self environment
so that they don't forget that we still
are working on people every day.
Got it. That makes sense. Where do you
kinda
draw the line or kinda find that balance
between, you know, like you were saying, using
the technology
as much as possible, but also kinda keeping
that human factor,
in it when it comes to dental education
and training kinda the next generation of dentists.
Absolutely. You know, I'm happy that we're talking
about it because people who are very excited
for technology,
as I am, often
don't remember
that it's important to keep the human connection
alive. So what I try to do is
when I'm building a curriculum for my students,
which is also graded based on their abilities
so 1st year students and 2nd year students
have different experiences
than 3rd year students and 4th year students
do.
We try to dial in the human connection
in an appropriate way. So 1st year and
second year students will spend time with the
virtual reality.
2nd year students have dedicated time 1 on
1 in our virtual reality lab,
but they also have to spend a certain
amount of time
watching patients and engaging with patients and getting
comfortable
working in the human field
and the human environment. 3rd year students and
4th year students have the opportunity to use
the virtual reality
technology at home. They can check out a
headset and hand controllers and practice
an unlimited number of times outside of the
lab, but they have more hours that are
dedicated towards human practice.
So we try to dial it inappropriately. I
think VR
is so adaptable.
It can be used in a multitude of
ways. And I think in the beginning, it's
very helpful for students
to practice
a certain number of times, and then when
they're still comfortable, to go back and practice
again.
As students work through the curriculum and they're
more comfortable and maybe a little bit more
experienced
with handling patients,
I see the VR is playing a different
role. It's more a refresher.
They can practice
maybe a few times and then go right
back into the clinic. So I think it's
important to maintain a healthy balance between
the virtual world
and the real world
and also not to solely rely on technology
to replace hands on experience. Because at the
end of the day,
it's really the patient behind the tooth or
including the tooth that matters.
And we talk about this a lot with
students.
You know, the first the first couple of
times that students use the virtual reality, I
think they become so immersed
in the environment.
They may forget
why we're doing this, and it's important to
explain
that
skills are critical for dental students and dentists
to learn. But, again, applying them to a
person
requires a separate skill set as well.
Got it. That makes a lot of sense.
Thank you.
And then our last question
today is, in in your view,
what will the most effective health care leaders
need in order to be successful,
in the next 2 to 3 years?
Sure. I think
the best leaders will need to be comfortable
using
advanced technology
as we've been talking about in everyday practice.
I think many of the technological
tools that are available
are,
they're fascinating, and they do require
time to learn. I think today's students are
very comfortable using technology
every day all day.
And for me,
as a older person compared to my students,
it took a while.
And there is a learning curve into how
to use a headset
and hand controllers
and how to be comfortable
working in a virtual environment.
I think it's also important for practitioners to
be aware of technology as many of our
patients know what's available in for dental practice.
Patients often hear about the latest advances or
read about them online,
and it's important to meet patients' expectations.
Practitioners, I think, will need to be familiar
what the technological tools are, how they can
be used to decide if they're ready to
incorporate them into their practices,
and to have conversations with patients about maybe
the advantages and disadvantages of using them.
So I think health care leaders of the
future need to be ready for what's coming.
A lot of it is already in play
currently. And I think as technology
continues to develop,
we'll need to continue to develop our skills
with them.
So I want just wanna thank you for
joining us on the on the podcast today,
doctor Levin, and and sharing your valuable expertise
and and insights into the dental space.
It's been a pleasure speaking with you, and
I look forward to connecting with you again
in the future.
Same. Thanks so much. I really enjoyed our
time together, and happy New Year.