Virtual Reality During Periodontal Frenectomy (VRFren)

August 7, 2026 updated by: Muhammed Emin Kalender

Evaluation of the Effects of Virtual Reality Application on Anxiety, Pain, and Physiological Stress Responses During Periodontal Frenectomy

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether virtual reality can reduce anxiety, pain, and physiological stress responses during periodontal frenectomy in adults who need this surgical procedure.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does virtual reality reduce anxiety before and after periodontal frenectomy? Does virtual reality reduce pain during and after the procedure? Does virtual reality have a favorable effect on physiological stress responses such as blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation? Does virtual reality affect surgical process-related outcomes and early wound healing?

Researchers will compare adults who receive standard periodontal frenectomy with virtual reality-based audiovisual distraction to adults who receive standard periodontal frenectomy without virtual reality.

Participants will:

Complete anxiety and pain questionnaires before the procedure. Undergo periodontal frenectomy under local anesthesia. Be randomly assigned to either the virtual reality group or the control group. Have blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and pain levels recorded at defined time points during the procedure.

Record daily pain levels and analgesic use for 7 days after surgery. Return for a 7-day follow-up visit for suture removal and early wound healing assessment.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

70

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Bilecik
      • Bilecik, Bilecik, Turkey (Türkiye), 11100
        • Bilecik Seyh Edebali University Faculty of Dentistry
        • 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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 to 65 years
  • Classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II
  • Presence of a clinical indication for periodontal frenectomy
  • No previous periodontal surgery experience
  • No previous virtual reality experience

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Visual or hearing impairment that may prevent the use of the virtual reality headset
  • History of claustrophobia
  • History of vertigo
  • Use of analgesic or sedative medication within the last 24 hours
  • Current substance dependence
  • Presence of active infection in the surgical area
  • Current regular use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, sedatives/hypnotics, or other psychotropic medications

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual Reality Group
Participants in this group will receive standard periodontal frenectomy under local anesthesia with virtual reality-based audiovisual distraction during the procedure. After baseline assessments and randomization, a Meta Quest 3 head-mounted virtual reality device will be placed before local anesthesia. Participants will passively watch a standardized nature video with calming audio until the surgical procedure is completed.
Behavioral: Virtual Reality-Based Audiovisual Distraction
Participants assigned to the virtual reality group will use a Meta Quest 3 head-mounted device during periodontal frenectomy. A standardized nature video with calming audio will be presented from before local anesthesia until completion of the surgical procedure. The content will be shown from the same starting point with the same brightness and volume settings for all participants. Participants will watch the content passively without interaction.
Procedure: Standard Periodontal Frenectomy
All participants will undergo clinically indicated periodontal frenectomy under local anesthesia using a standardized surgical protocol. The procedure will be performed by the same surgeon under standardized clinical conditions.
Active Comparator: Control Group
Participants in this group will receive standard periodontal frenectomy under local anesthesia without virtual reality or any other audiovisual distraction method. The surgical protocol, surgeon, local anesthesia protocol, and clinical environment will be the same as in the virtual reality group.
Procedure: Standard Periodontal Frenectomy
All participants will undergo clinically indicated periodontal frenectomy under local anesthesia using a standardized surgical protocol. The procedure will be performed by the same surgeon under standardized clinical conditions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain Intensity Assessed by Visual Analog Scale During and Immediately After Surgery
Time Frame: After local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and 10 minutes after completion of surgery
Pain intensity will be assessed using a 0 to 10 visual analog scale (VAS), where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable. Pain will be recorded after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and 10 minutes after completion of surgery.
After local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and 10 minutes after completion of surgery
State Anxiety Score Assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State Form
Time Frame: Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, and 10 minutes after completion of surgery
State anxiety will be assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State Form (STAI-S). The STAI-S consists of 20 items scored from 1 to 4, with a total score ranging from 20 to 80. Higher scores indicate higher state anxiety.
Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, and 10 minutes after completion of surgery
Blood Pressure During Periodontal Frenectomy
Time Frame: Before virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and immediately after surgery
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) as physiological indicators of stress response.
Before virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and immediately after surgery
Heart Rate During Periodontal Frenectomy
Time Frame: Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and at completion of surgery
Heart rate will be measured as beats per minute using pulse oximetry. Heart rate will be used as a physiological indicator of stress response.
Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and at completion of surgery
Peripheral Oxygen Saturation During Periodontal Frenectomy
Time Frame: Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and at completion of surgery
Peripheral oxygen saturation will be measured as percentage using pulse oximetry. Peripheral oxygen saturation will be used as a physiological indicator of stress response.
Baseline before randomization and virtual reality application, after local anesthesia, during the middle phase of surgery, and at completion of surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative Pain Intensity Assessed by Visual Analog Scale
Time Frame: Postoperative days 1 to 7
Postoperative pain intensity will be assessed daily using a 0 to 10 visual analog scale (VAS), where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable.
Postoperative days 1 to 7

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Muhammed Emin Kalender

Collaborators

Bilecik Seyh Edebali Universitesi

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)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 4, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 7, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 7, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2026-18
  • GAP-2026-750 (Other Identifier: Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit)

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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