The Feasibility and Clinical Utility of the Use of Virtual Reality for the Management of Pediatric Dental Anxiety

April 18, 2024 updated by: Beatriz Ferraz dos Santos, McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

The use of virtual reality (VR) in pediatric healthcare settings helps to reduce children's pain and anxiety. However, this technology has not been used consistently in pediatric dentistry. Consequently, the goal of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of using a Virtual Reality headset as a distraction technique during dental procedures in children and identify patient and clinician's opinions regarding its use.

This study incorporates a single-site, randomized clinical trial design with two paralleled study groups. One group will receive dental treatment following regular standard of care of behavior management while the second group will receive dental treatment using a Virtual Reality distraction headset. Patients in both groups will complete a questionnaire to assess their perception of pain and anxiety before and after the intervention, as well as their satisfaction with the dental treatment. The dentist providing the treatment will also report their observations relating to patient behavior during dental treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
128

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Quebec
      • Montreal, Quebec, Canada
        • Recruiting
        • Division of Dentistry, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Centre
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children aged between 6 and 12 years and their accompanying parent/legal-guardian.
  • Children scheduled for one of the following procedures: restorative treatments (amalgam, composite or stainless-steel crowns), pulp therapy and extractions
  • Children that can understand and speak French or English.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children diagnosed with a cognitive, auditory, or cognitive impairment preventing them from interacting with the VR game.
  • Children diagnosed with epilepsy or any other condition preventing them from playing the VR game.
  • Children requiring urgent dental care
  • Children requiring dental treatment with conscious sedation (i.e. nitrous oxide inhalation and/or oral sedation with benzodiazepines)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Pediatric dental treatment using VR
At the beginning of the dental visit, subjects enrolled in the virtual reality (VR) group (n=64) will receive instructions about how to operate the VR system. The research team will then properly fit VR headset onto the child's head and ensure that there are no discomforts. Then, the research team will monitor the intervention using the tablet interface, allowing them to start, pause, and stop the VR intervention. The child will be given 5 minutes to get used to the device. During this time, any adjustments to the headset will be made. The VR intervention will last the duration of the dental procedure, unless told otherwise by the patient, their parent/legal-guardian, or the research team. The entire VR intervention will be closely monitored for any adverse events. Time of play and the patients' compliance of using VR will be noted.
Device: Virtual reality headset
Use of a virtual reality headset during pediatric dental care
No Intervention: Control group
Subjects enrolled in the control group (n=64) will receive their dental care using the behavior management techniques recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (i.e., tell-show-so, communicative guidance, distraction through stories and positive reinforcement).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Children's pain perception during dental treatment
Time Frame: Baseline
Children's perception of pain during dental treatment will be assessed by the Wong- Baker FACES scale. The 'Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability' (FLACC), a common behavioral pain external observation scale, will also be used. Higher the score more discomfort and pain experienced by the patient.
Baseline
Children's fear during dental treatment
Time Frame: Baseline
The Child Fear Scale will be used to assess the anxiety felt by the participants during dental treatment
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Children's acceptability of virtual reality intervention during dental care
Time Frame: Baseline
The Patient Perception 5-item questionnaire will be used to assess participants acceptability of the VR intervention.
Baseline
Oral health care provider's acceptability of virtual reality during dental care
Time Frame: Baseline
A 4-point Likert-scale questionnaire will be used to assess oral health care providers' acceptability of VR during dental treatment.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
McGill University Health Centre/Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 21, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 15, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 23, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2024

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2024-10221

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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