Virtual Reality Intervention to Reduce Child Anxiety on Dental Care: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Unpleasant early dental experience pain and anxiety can result in several negative consequences, such as dental fear, uncooperative behavior, and general dissatisfaction of the patients with dental care. Several techniques may be useful to reduce pain and anxiety in child patients during dental procedures.This study aimed to review systematically the effectiveness of virtual reality intervention to reduce child anxiety on dental care. Subjects and Method: A systematic review was conducted by searching published articles from 2014 to 2019 from databases included Proquest, Scopus, Science Direct, and Springer Link. The keywords IRU WKLV UHYLHZ ZHUH 39LUWXDO 5HDOLW\ ́ 3'HQWDO $Q[LHW\ ́ 3'HQWDO 3KRELD ́ 3&KLOGUHQ ́ DQG 33DLQ 3HUFHSWLRQ ́ 7KH LQFOXVLRQ FULWHULD ZHre English, open access, and dental health. The independent variable was virtual reality intervention. The dependent variable was fear and anxiety. After review process 5 articles from USA, Holland, UK, and 2 articles from India, were included in this review. Results: After intervention, fear and anxiety scores in pre-dental care were lower in children who were intervened than those who were not, and it was statistically significant (p<0.001). After intervention, fear and anxiety scores in post-dental care were lower in children who were intervened than those who were not, and it was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Virtual reality is an effective non-pharmacological intervention to reduce fear and anxiety in children during dental care.