Non-Cochrane · intervention · PM42344783
Haptic technology in orthodontics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Alam Mohammad Khursheed, Alsaeed Suliman, Hajeer Mohammad Younis, et al. · Frontiers in oral health · 2026 · PubMed · doi:10.3389/froh.2026.1768079
Findings
Population Patients undergoing orthodontic treatment or trainees in orthodontic education
7 findings
| Haptic or virtual reality technology | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Overall | SMD 1.40 [0.82, 1.98] GRADE not reported 9 studies |
| Haptic or virtual reality technology | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Combined effect size across technology subgroups (random effects between subgroups) | SMD 1.37 [1.32, 1.43] GRADE not reported 9 studies |
| Haptic or virtual reality technology | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Combined effect size across clinical application subgroups (Figure 7) | SMD 1.29 [0.48, 2.10] GRADE not reported 9 studies |
| Haptic or virtual reality technology for bracket placement and bonding training | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Clinical application: bracket placement and bonding (Group A) | SMD 1.77 [0.31, 3.23] GRADE not reported 4 studies |
| Haptic or virtual reality technology for orthognathic surgical planning, training and surgical adjuncts | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Clinical application: orthognathic surgical planning, training and surgical adjuncts (Group B) | SMD 1.03 [0.47, 1.59] GRADE not reported 5 studies |
| Virtual reality educational simulators (bracket bonding and surgical planning training) | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Technology type: educational VR simulators (Group A) | SMD 1.40 [0.51, 2.28] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Mixed reality, augmented reality and immersive assistive technology | Conventional methods or no haptic technology | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) Orthodontic education and planning · Technology type: MR/AR and immersive assistive technology (Group B) | SMD 1.35 [-0.23, 2.93] GRADE not reported 3 studies |
Included primary studies 16
Open in Studies| Study | Year | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chen 2025 Virtual reality used in undergraduate orthodontic education DOI:10.1111/eje.12968 | 2023 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Chen 2025 Virtual reality used in undergraduate orthodontic education. PMID:37908172 | 2025 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Li 2021 Mixed Reality and Haptic–Based Dental Simulator for Tooth Preparation: Research, Development, and Preliminary Evaluation DOI:10.2196/30653 | 2022 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Li 2021 Mixed Reality and Haptic-Based Dental Simulator for Tooth Preparation: Research, Development, and Preliminary Evaluation. PMID:35262501 | 2022 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Liu 2025 Evaluating a preclinical orthodontic training using haptic-enhanced VR simulation system: a longitudinal study DOI:10.1186/s12909-025-07036-7 | 2025 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Liu 2025 Evaluating a preclinical orthodontic training using haptic-enhanced VR simulation system: a longitudinal study. PMID:40200216 | 2025 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Liu and Bin 2025 Evaluating Preclinical Orthodontic Training Using Haptic-Enhanced Vr Simulation System DOI:10.1016/j.identj.2025.104229 | 2025 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Sakowitz 2020 A comparison of two-dimensional prediction tracing and a virtual reality patient methods for diagnosis and treatment planning of… DOI:10.1007/s10055-019-00413-w | 2019 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Stevanie 2025 Immersive reality surgical training for Le Fort I orthognathic surgery: Initial results of a randomized feasibility study DOI:10.1016/j.jcms.2025.03.014 | 2025 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Stevanie 2025 Immersive reality surgical training for Le Fort I orthognathic surgery: Initial results of a randomized feasibility study. PMID:40189948 | 2025 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Strobele 2025 Experienced versus unexperienced dentists in bracket placement using an Augmented Reality (AR) conventional mobile devices DOI:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2025.110212 | 2025 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Strobele 2025 Experienced versus unexperienced dentists in bracket placement using an Augmented Reality (AR) conventional mobile devices. PMID:40273821 | 2025 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Sytek 2021 Comparisons of orthodontic residents’ performance and attitudes using 2D, 3D, and virtual reality surgical simulation methods DOI:10.1002/jdd.12598 | 2021 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Sytek 2021 Comparisons of orthodontic residents' performance and attitudes using 2D, 3D, and virtual reality surgical simulation methods. PMID:33792038 | 2021 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
| Wan 2024 Effectiveness of immersive virtual reality in orthognathic surgical education: A randomized controlled trial DOI:10.1002/jdd.13380 | 2023 | this review only | not stated | not extracted yet |
| Wan 2024 Effectiveness of immersive virtual reality in orthognathic surgical education: A randomized controlled trial. PMID:37800654 | 2024 | this review only | Skill acquisition, accuracy and planning performance (Hedges g, composite across studies) | not extracted yet |
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Patients undergoing orthodontic treatment or trainees in orthodontic education | Orthodontic trainees, students and clinicians (n=9 studies) |
| Intervention | Haptic technologies or simulators applied to orthodontic procedures or training | Haptic-enhanced VR, MR/AR and immersive reality for bracket bonding, orthognathic planning and surgical training (n=9) |
| Comparison | Conventional orthodontic methods or no haptic feedback | Traditional phantom head, 2D tracing, textbook learning, self-comparison or no comparator (n=9) |
| Outcomes | Clinical or procedural measures (treatment accuracy, force-related performance) and educational outcomes (skill acquisition, user satisfaction) | Skill and performance effect size, Hedges g (n=9) |
| Study designs | Randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials and observational studies published 2010 to October 2025 | 3 randomized controlled trials; 2 longitudinal studies; 4 observational studies (n=9) |
| Timing | Not specified | Not specified |
AMSTAR 2 items
Two independent extractors rated each item. Their ratings are shown side by side because they have not been reconciled yet. The overall rating follows Shea et al. 2017: one critical flaw gives Low, more than one gives Critically Low.
| Item | Extractor A | Extractor B | Agree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Research question includes PICO components | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 2Protocol established before the reviewcritical | Partial Yes | Partial Yes | yes |
| 3Choice of study designs explained | No | No | yes |
| 4Comprehensive literature searchcritical | No | No | yes |
| 5Study selection in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 6Data extraction in duplicate | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 7List of excluded studies with reasonscritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 8Included studies described in detail | Partial Yes | Partial Yes | yes |
| 9Risk of bias assessed satisfactorilycritical | NRSI: Yes · RCT: Yes | RCT: Yes · NRSI: Yes | no |
| 10Funding of included studies reported | No | NR | no |
| 11Appropriate meta-analysis methodscritical | NRSI: No · RCT: No | RCT: No · NRSI: No | no |
| 12Impact of risk of bias on the pooled results | No | No | yes |
| 13Risk of bias accounted for in interpretationcritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 14Heterogeneity explained | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 15Publication bias investigatedcritical | Yes | Yes | yes |
| 16Conflicts of interest reported | Yes | Yes | yes |
| Overall | Critically Low | Critically Low | yes |