Augmented reality in dentistry: a current perspective

Abstract

Augmentation reality technology offers virtual information in addition to that of the real environment and thus opens new possibilities in various fields. The medical applications of augmentation reality are generally concentrated on surgery types, including neurosurgery, laparoscopic surgery and plastic surgery. Augmentation reality technology is also widely used in medical education and training. In dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery is the primary area of use, where dental implant placement and orthognathic surgery are the most frequent applications. Recent technological advancements are enabling new applications of restorative dentistry, orthodontics and endodontics. This review briefly summarizes the history, definitions, features, and components of augmented reality technology and discusses its applications and future perspectives in dentistry.

Keywords:

• Augmented reality
• virtual reality
• image-guided surgery

Disclosure statement

All authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was mainly supported by the Seoul National University Research Grant in 2017. This research was partially (30%) supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [NRF- 2015R1A1A1A05001331].