Virtual reality aids dental anxiety by targeting key moments
On Edge in the Dental Chair: Designing VR Support for Moments of Dental Anxiety
Human-Computer Interaction
Summary
Dental anxiety can change during treatment, but most VR tools try to distract or relax patients the whole time. The authors created a VR system that reacts to specific events during dental work to better support anxious patients. In tests, this approach reduced reported anxiety more than just using VR without these event-based supports. The work shows how timing and type of VR support matter, focusing on the full support system rather than single parts.
What this means in practice
- •For dental clinic managers: Introduce event-triggered VR support systems to better reduce patient anxiety during specific moments in dental procedures.
- •For vr healthcare developers: Design VR experiences that dynamically adjust to clinical events to improve patient emotional support in medical settings.$Commercial implications: Enables development of targeted anxiety-reducing VR products for dental and medical use that improve patient comfort and can be marketed to clinics.
Authors
Zhu Guo, Junjie Zhao, Haofan He, Jiaming Zhang, Mingshi Deng, Mingjun Zhou, Dongyijie Primo Pan, Zikun Jin, Jianquan Li, Liangyi Chen, Zuolin Jin, Benyou Wang, Jie Li, Siying Hu, Shan Jiang, Junwen Wang
Abstract
Dental anxiety can change as a procedure unfolds, yet dental virtual reality (VR) commonly provides continuous distraction or relaxation. We investigate how support can be coordinated with specific simulated dental events. Stakeholder interviews (N=36), participatory design with three returning dentists, and patient walkthroughs of a no-intervention prototype (N=12) informed five Anxiety Events and an intervention-module framework. Drawing on cognitive vulnerability and emotion regulation, we implemented a standardized event-contingent VR system with predefined event-module assignments and shared agency and safety controls. A randomized study (N=24) compared the intervention package with no-intervention VR. The adjusted intervention-minus-control difference averaged -12.83 VAS-A points across events (95% CI [-24.42, -1.70]). Physiological, behavioural, and qualitative measures contextualized participants' experiences. The findings inform timely, comprehensible support and reassuring social presence in simulated dental VR; they concern the complete package rather than individual modules or clinical effectiveness.