ORTHO-WISE: ORTHODONTICS WEB-BASED INTERACTIVE SIMULATION ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Simulated Patient encounters are widely used in order to provide students with the opportunity to harness their synthesis, analysis, and decision making skills without regard to time of day or physical location and without risk to both patient and student. Orthodontists nowadays are having a hard time acquiring the required number of patients to be diagnosed and treated inside the clinic. Orthodontics Web-Based Interactive Simulation Environment (Ortho-WISE) is an online application, written in PHP connected to a MySQL database that allows Orthodontist professors to author cases optimized for dental education and allows students to “meet” the simulated patients and diagnose and plan treatment for them. Students are able to learn more through metacognition by comparing their work to that of the case authors’ and by receiving feedback. Ortho-WISE also includes a forum that could facilitate discussion for students and professors about the simulated cases and diagnoses and treatment plans for them.