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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03993080

Virtual Reality Relaxation to Decrease Dental Anxiety

The aim is to apply short-term virtual reality relaxation to examine if it is effective in reducing pre-operative dental anxiety in primary health care using an RCT.

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Key information

Conditions

Dental Anxiety

Age range

18 year–120 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Turku

Turku, 20014, Finland

About this study

Randomized controlled single-center trial with two parallel arms: Virtual Reality Relaxation (VRR) and Treatment As Usual (TAU) in a public oral health care unit. VRR group receiving a 1-3.5 minute 360° video immersing them in peaceful virtual landscape with audio features and sound supporting the relaxing experience. TAU groups remaining seated for 3 minutes in similar setting.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • attending for dental treatment
  • consenting
  • able to complete Finnish questionnaire without assistance
  • age 18 years or older

Exclusion criteria

  • those not meeting inclusion criteria

Treatment and study plan

Virtual reality relaxation

Device

1-3.5 minute 360° videos

Primary outcomes

  1. Dental anxiety

    Time frame: immediately after intervention

    post-test measured with Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, The measure has five questions, each with five reply alternatives from not anxious to extremely anxious (on a scale 1-5), MDAS sums up to the total scale (range 5-25) which is used as primary outcome. Higher scores indicate higher dental anxiety.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Anticipatory dental anxiety and treatment related dental anxiety

    Time frame: immediately after intervention

    The secondary outcome variables are post-test scores for the two sub-scales of the MDAS referred to as 'anticipatory' (MDAS items 1 and 2) and 'treatment' dental anxiety (MDAS items 3, 4 and 5). Scales for sum up as anticipatory anxiety (Items 1 and 2: range 2-10) and treatment anxiety (Items 3-5, range 3-15). Higher scores indicate higher dental anxiety

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Turku

Other

Collaborators

  • City of Helsinki
  • University of Dundee
  • University of St Andrews

Registry information

Official study title

Virtual Reality Relaxation to Decrease Dental Anxiety in Primary Dental Care

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2019
Study completion
2019
First posted
Jun 20, 2019
Registry last updated
Jun 25, 2019

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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