Virtual Reality for Dental Anxiety in Children With Mild Intellectual Disability (VR-MID)

Oasi Research Institute-IRCCS

Status: Completed

Conditions: Intellectual Disabilities (F70-F79)

Treatments: Device: Control: Monitor-Based Distraction; Device: Virtual Reality Distraction - immersive VR software delivered through Meta Quest 3® headset during dental procedure

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07249359

RC-2794677

Details and patient eligibility

About

Virtual reality (VR) is a promising non-pharmacological approach to reduce dental anxiety in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. This randomized controlled trial compared a VR-based distraction intervention with conventional monitor-based distraction in children aged 11-15 years with mild intellectual disability and moderate dental anxiety undergoing conservative dental treatment.

Enrollment: 56 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 11 to 15 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 11-15; diagnosis of mild intellectual disability (DSM-5)
• Moderate anxiety (Corah DAS 9-12)
• ≥1 decayed tooth requiring conservative treatment under local anesthesia
• Informed consent from parents/legal guardians

Exclusion criteria

• no or slight anxiety
• high or severe anxiety
• visual disorders
• neuromuscular comorbidities interfering with cooperation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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56 participants in 2 patient groups

Virtual Reality Distraction

Experimental group

Description:

immersive VR software delivered through Meta Quest 3® headset during dental procedure

Treatment:

Device: Virtual Reality Distraction - immersive VR software delivered through Meta Quest 3® headset during dental procedure

Control: Monitor-Based Distraction

Active Comparator group

Description:

cartoon video displayed in front of dental chair

Treatment:

Device: Control: Monitor-Based Distraction