journal article·2026-07-02Open access

Motion Tracking-Based Dental Posture Training: Heuristic-Based Assessment and a Comparative Feasibility Study

Jun-Seong Kim, Kun-Woo Kim, Hyo-Joon Kim, Seong-Yong Moon

Applied Sciences· Volume 16· Issue 13

Abstract

Accurate dental working posture is essential for clinical performance and patient safety, yet objective and consistent posture training remains challenging. We present a motion-recognition-based posture assessment approach for dental clinical training that computes posture features from skeletal motion data and applies a rule-based (heuristic) posture assessment module based on predefined clinical criteria to generate posture scores, penalty counts, and warning counts. We conducted a comparative feasibility study with five dental residents (40 sessions total; eight procedure states per participant, 5 min/session). Heuristic-based assessment outputs were compared with specialist video-based ratings using paired nonparametric tests and Bland–Altman analysis. Across pooled sessions (n = 40), the heuristic method yielded lower posture scores than the video-based assessment (89.38 ± 5.21 vs. 97.38 ± 2.99) and higher penalty and warning counts (2.13 ± 1.04 vs. 0.53 ± 0.60; 7.23 ± 3.10 vs. 2.48 ± 1.54). Between-method differences were significant (p < 0.001), and Bland–Altman analysis showed a mean bias of 8.00 points (95% limits of agreement: −1.36 to 17.36), indicating limited session-level interchangeability. The proposed approach shows practical feasibility for quantitative posture recording and training support, but larger validation studies and calibration strategies are needed to improve agreement with reference assessments.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Occupational health in dentistry · Temporomandibular Joint Disorders · Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Clinical Coordinating Center, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea

Dental Biomedical Engineering, College of Dentistry, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Chosun University Dental Hospital, Gwangju 61452, Republic of Korea

Funding

National Research Foundation of Korea

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