A systematic review of the use of virtual reality or dental smartphone applications as interventions for management of paediatric dental anxiety

Abstract

Background Virtual reality (VR) has been used successfully in medicine both as a distraction tool during procedures, and as an acclimatisation tool to prepare for a procedure or experience. It has not yet become widely used in dentistry, but could theoretically have a role in exposure-based acclimatisation for dental experiences. Methods To examine the use of VR or bespoke dental smartphone applications pre- or perioperatively in dentistry, to decrease anxiety in a paediatric population attending for dental examination or treatment, compared with children/adolescents who receive no intervention, or more conventional behavioural management techniques. Searches were made of eight electronic databases: the Cochrane Oral Health Group’s Trials Register, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE(PubMed), EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Science. Further searches reference cross‐checks were performed to identify studies that were not discovered online. Results Systematic reviews and randomised control trials have demonstrated the successful use of VR to both distract patients perioperatively during medical procedures, and also preoperatively to prepare them for these interventions. However, to date, VR has only been applied to dentistry in a very limited number of studies. Three studies using virtual reality in a dental setting demonstrated decreased pain and anxiety compared with no intervention. All three of these studies were carried out in the perioperative period. A fourth study used a bespoke dental app and imagery to prepare patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for dental treatment, finding statistically significant decreases in both the number of appointments and number of attempts required to carry out a procedure. Conclusion VR is a promising tool which to date has been under-utilised in dentistry. High quality, clinical studies are required to assess the use of preoperative VR and smartphone applications to prepare patients for dental examination and procedures under local or general anaesthetic.

Virtual dental teaching and its effect on test success – A cross‐over study

“…Moreover, VR applications are already applied, for example, on smartphones as distraction methods and acclimatization options for anxiety reduction during examinations and procedures for children and adults [26][27][28] or anatomy teaching. 23 In addition, a fully comprehensive VR dental learning environment of dental morphology teaching has already been presented.…”

“…29 The computer simulations are shown to be effective in teaching, with virtual teaching showing inconclusive results but very promising approaches. 2,23,26 Nevertheless, students or trainees reported higher confidence in realworld applications as a result of the applications. 6 In a review of 21 publications included, 74.0% of these showed improved learning using digital teaching (also partly VR) in medical education.…”

“…The computer simulations are shown to be effective in teaching, with virtual teaching showing inconclusive results but very promising approaches 2,23,26 . Nevertheless, students or trainees reported higher confidence in real‐world applications as a result of the applications 6 .…”

Experience of using a smartphone WeChat applet for dental anxiety assessment and preoperative evaluation: A nationwide multicenter study

“…On reviewing these existing dental applications (42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48), it was found that most of them monitor the patient's lifestyle and oral health status. None of them played a complete role in the whole process of patient treatment like WADA, including pre-treatment assessment, during-treatment advice, and posttreatment feedback.…”

Increasing empathy for children in dental students using virtual reality

“…VR had been used to augment the teaching of paediatric dentistry in the form of pre-clinical simulators for procedures such as paediatric dental restorations, pulpotomies and stainless steel crowns, with recent studies suggesting that VR simulations improved satisfaction and can be used as an adjunct in training dental students. 15,16 Although there had been some literature on harnessing the power of VR to prepare paediatric dental patients for procedures, 17 there is a paucity of research available on the effectiveness of virtual reality on teaching behaviour guidance in dental students.…”