VR distraction interventions could be an effective approach to alleviate the dental anxiety of paediatric patients

Dental anxiety is characterised by a feeling of apprehension that something dreadful will occur during dental treatment, and it is typically accompanied by a sense of losing control Dental anxiety is particularly prevalent amongst children; up to 36.5% of children (aged 3–18 years) worldwide have dental anxiety.

A study was done to analyse the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) distraction intervention for the management of dental anxiety in paediatric patients. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of VR distraction interventions for reducing anxiety in paediatric patients, published in English were included. Seven databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE via ProQuest, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, covering the period between January 2000 and September 2022 were searched.

A total of 12 RCTs involving 818 participants were included. Quality appraisal was undertaken using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials by two authors independently. Random-effects model was used to summarise the effects of the interventions and pool data.

Results showed that VR distraction interventions were effective in reducing the dental anxiety of paediatric patients. In meta-analysis, the VR distraction interventions had a significant effect on reducing paediatric patients’ anxiety, pain and heart rate during dental treatment. However, the evidence of VR in managing dental anxiety would become weak because of the publication bias.

VR distraction interventions could be an effective approach to alleviate the dental anxiety of paediatric patients. Additional well-designed and high-quality RCTs with larger sample sizes are needed to determine the optimal way to deliver VR interventions in paediatric dental clinics.

Reference:

Xinyi Yan, Yongyang Yan, Mengyao Cao, Wenxuan Xie, Siobhán O'Connor, Jung Jae Lee, Mu-Hsing Ho, Effectiveness of virtual reality distraction interventions to reduce dental anxiety in paediatric patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Dentistry, Volume 132, 2023, 104455, ISSN 0300-5712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2023.104455. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300571223000428)