Almajed Omar S, Alhujhuj Rakan, Alshaheen Eyad, Almujhim Abdullatif, Albutayh Mohammed, Raghunath Ravi G, Lele Gauri
Pediatric Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, SAU.
Dental Public Health, King's College London, London, GBR.
Cureus. 2023 Dec 26;15(12):e51099. doi: 10.7759/cureus.51099. eCollection 2023 Dec.
Background and objective Oral health is critical for children's overall well-being; however, dental anxiety often leads to the avoidance of necessary dental care among children. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a successful adjunctive tool in various clinical settings, including pain management. This cohort study explores the use of VR technology in reducing anxiety and pain perception during dental procedures for children. The primary objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of VR distraction in managing pain and anxiety levels in children aged four to six years during dental procedures. Additionally, the study aimed to compare children's anxiety levels with and without VR eyeglasses. Methodology This single-blind, crossover clinical trial was conducted at the Dental Complex of King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Of the 200 children screened initially, 20 aged four to six years who met the inclusion criteria were selected, and ethical approval for the study was obtained. The study comprised two groups: a control group and an experimental group. Dental procedures were conducted both with and without the use of VR, employing a split-mouth design. Results Our findings provide important insights into the clinical impact of using VR technology to alleviate children's anxiety during dental clinic visits. In our study, we used ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test to evaluate the effect of VR glasses on vital metrics in children during dental procedures. Our results showed no significant differences before and after using the VR glasses, indicating limited effectiveness in reducing anxiety in this context. Conclusion Based on our findings, we reject the assumption that VR devices are highly effective in diverting children's attention and reducing their anxiety and pain during dental procedures; we recommend further investigations to identify potential confounding factors that could modulate the utility of VR in medical settings.
背景与目的 口腔健康对儿童的整体健康至关重要；然而，牙科焦虑常常导致儿童回避必要的牙科护理。虚拟现实（VR）已成为包括疼痛管理在内的各种临床环境中一种成功的辅助工具。这项队列研究探讨了VR技术在减轻儿童牙科治疗过程中的焦虑和疼痛感知方面的应用。本研究的主要目的是评估VR分散注意力在管理4至6岁儿童牙科治疗过程中的疼痛和焦虑水平方面的疗效。此外，该研究旨在比较佩戴和不佩戴VR眼镜时儿童的焦虑水平。方法 这项单盲、交叉临床试验在沙特阿拉伯王国艾哈萨的费萨尔国王大学牙科综合大楼进行。在最初筛查的200名儿童中，选取了20名符合纳入标准的4至6岁儿童，并获得了该研究的伦理批准。该研究包括两组：对照组和实验组。采用分口设计，在使用和不使用VR的情况下进行牙科治疗。结果 我们的研究结果为使用VR技术减轻儿童牙科就诊时的焦虑的临床影响提供了重要见解。在我们的研究中，我们使用方差分析和Tukey事后检验来评估VR眼镜对儿童牙科治疗过程中重要指标的影响。我们的结果显示，使用VR眼镜前后没有显著差异，表明在这种情况下减轻焦虑的效果有限。结论 根据我们的研究结果，我们拒绝VR设备在转移儿童注意力以及减轻其牙科治疗过程中的焦虑和疼痛方面非常有效的假设；我们建议进一步调查，以确定可能调节VR在医疗环境中效用的潜在混杂因素。
