Virtual Reality for Pain and Anxiety in Pediatric Dental Treatment

June 4, 2026 updated by: Randa Soussou, University of British Columbia

Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality on Pain, Anxiety, and Post-Procedural Experience in Pediatric Dental Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether immersive virtual reality (VR) reduces pain and anxiety in children aged 6-12 years during routine dental procedures. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does VR distraction reduce self-reported pain and anxiety during dental treatment compared to standard behaviour guidance?
  • Does VR distraction improve children's post-procedural experience and willingness to return for future dental visits?

Researchers will compare children using a VR headset during dental treatment to children receiving standard behaviour guidance techniques.

Participants will:

  • Attend one routine dental appointment
  • Be randomly assigned to wear a VR headset or receive standard care during their procedure
  • Complete brief questionnaires about pain and anxiety before and after treatment
  • Receive a follow-up phone call 24-72 hours after the appointment

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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.
80

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
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6T 1Z3

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

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children aged 6 to 12 years
  • Scheduled for a routine invasive dental procedure
  • Accompanied by a parent or legal guardian
  • Parent/guardian able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children with visual or hearing impairments that would prevent use of the VR headset
  • Children with a history of motion sickness
  • Children with severe cognitive or developmental delays that would prevent completion of study measures
  • Children who have previously participated in this study
  • Children requiring emergency dental treatment

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: Supportive Care
  • 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: VR Distraction
Children wear an immersive VR headset during routine dental treatment as a non-pharmacological distraction intervention. The VR headset provides an engaging visual and auditory environment to reduce pain and anxiety during the procedure.
Device: Immersive Virtual Reality Headset
A commercially available immersive VR headset used as a non-pharmacological distraction tool during routine pediatric dental procedures. Children wear the headset throughout their treatment to engage with an interactive virtual environment designed to reduce pain and anxiety.
Active Comparator: Standard Behaviour Guidance
Children receive standard behaviour guidance techniques commonly used in pediatric dentistry, such as tell-show-do and positive reinforcement, without VR distraction.
Behavioral: Standard Behaviour Guidance
Standard behaviour guidance techniques routinely used in pediatric dentistry, including tell-show-do, positive reinforcement, and distraction through verbal communication and a TV screen. No virtual reality headset is used.

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
Self-Reported Pain During Dental Procedure Using Faces Pain Scale
Time Frame: Baseline Pre-procedural and Immediately following the dental procedure (same day)
Child self-reported pain assessed using the Faces Pain Scale (0-10 where 10 is the maximum pain felt): The child is asked to point to the Faces picture that reflect the pain level that they are feeling. 0= Relaxed and comfortable; 2-4= Mild discomfort; 6-8= Moderate pain; 10= Severe pain or discomfort Baseline pre-procedural and immediately following the dental procedure.
Baseline Pre-procedural and Immediately following the dental procedure (same day)

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
Physiological Stress Response (Salivary alpha-Amylase) salivary alpha-amylase level (pcg/L) baseline at the dental consultation appointment at time for the consent for the study and immediately following the dental procedure
Time Frame: baseline at the dental consultation appointment at time for the consent for the study and immediately following the dental procedure
Using a swab to collect for a full 60-90 seconds by resting the swab inside the mouth, or collect in intervals by re-introducing the swab into the mouth as needed, until the lower third of the swab is saturated (some participants may require longer than 90 seconds of total collection time).
baseline at the dental consultation appointment at time for the consent for the study and immediately following the dental procedure
Physiological Stress Response (Heart Rate)
Time Frame: Baseline (Before the procedure), during and Immediately following the dental procedure
Physiological markers of stress assessed via heart rate using a pulse oximeter device (pulse/minute)
Baseline (Before the procedure), during and Immediately following the dental procedure

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.
University of British Columbia

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 (Estimated)

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.
June 2, 2026

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.
June 18, 2027

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.
June 30, 2027

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).
May 22, 2026

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.
June 4, 2026

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.
June 9, 2026

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.
June 9, 2026

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.
June 4, 2026

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.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • H25-03739 (Other Identifier: UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

A decision regarding individual participant data sharing has not yet been made. This study involves children (a vulnerable population) and data sharing plans will be determined in accordance with UBC Research Ethics Board requirements

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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