ArticleJournal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine2019
Comparative evaluation of virtual reality distraction and counter-stimulation on dental anxiety and pain perception in children.
Article in Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 46 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Virtual Reality Distraction Versus Audio Distraction on Anxiety and Pain Reduction in Children Undergoing Dental Treatment (A Randomized Clinical Trial)
Comparative Evaluation of The Effect of Virtual Reality and Screen Programs on Children's Dental Anxiety, Pain and Behavior: A Randomized Cross-Over Clinical Trial
Effects of The Virtual Reality "Dream" Game on Anxiety During Dental Procedures in Children (VR-TOOTH): A Pilot Randomized, Controlled Trial
The Effects of A Virtual Reality Game on Anxiety During Dental Procedures in Children (VR-TOOTH): A Randomized, Controlled Trial Protocol
Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of virtual reality distraction on children's behavior during dental treatment: a systematic review of the literature.BMC oral health · 2026Pooled it
- Technology-enhanced behavior guidance for pediatric dental anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis of effectiveness and safety of virtual reality, augmented reality, biofeedback, and games.Frontiers in dental medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Equity implications of extended reality technologies for health and procedural anxiety: a systematic review and implementation-focused framework.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2025Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for reducing dental anxiety in pediatric dentistry: a network meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Using Virtual Technology for Fear of Medical Procedures: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality-Based Interventions.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Virtual Reality Distraction vs Nitrous Oxide for Reducing Anxiety and Injection Pain.Anesthesia progress · 2025Trial
- Bringing the museum into the hospital to promote cultural wellness in patients undergoing haemodialysis through a virtual reality tour.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Comparative efficacy of virtual reality headset and auditory distraction for reducing anxiety and pain during inferior alveolar nerve block in 7-10-year-old children: a clinical trial.BMC pediatrics · 2025Trial
- The Effect of Breathing Exercise Using Bubble Blower on Anxiety and Pain during Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block in Children Aged 7 to 10 Years: A Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial.Pain research & management · 2022Trial
- Meditation Monologue can Reduce Clinical Injection-Related Anxiety: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of evidence-based integrative medicineTrial
- Virtual Reality Goggles as a Distraction Technique for Managing Behavioral Conduct During Pulp Pediatric Dental Treatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
- Evaluating the Effect of Breathing Exercise Using a Bubble Blower on Anxiety and Pain during Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block in Children Aged 6-10 Years: A Randomized Clinical Trial.International journal of clinical pediatric dentistry · 2026Article
- Efficacy of a Virtual Reality Game on Children's Fear and Anxiety During Dental Procedures (VR-TOOTH): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Comparative evaluation of two behavior guidance techniques in reducing pain perception and anxiety during local anesthesia administration in children: a randomized clinical trial.Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Article
- Evaluating the impact of camouflaged and insulin syringes with and without counter-stimulation on anxiety and behavior in children during administration of local anesthesia.Journal of dental anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Article
- Analyzing Nonpharmacological Behavior Management in Children With Dental Anxiety: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Health science reports · 2025Review
- Behavior Puzzle: Nonpharmacological Behavior Management.International journal of clinical pediatric dentistry · 2025Review
- Analgesic Use of Virtual Reality for Burn Dressing Changes in Low- and Middle-income Countries: A Feasibility Study.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Effect of Distraction Techniques Using Virtual Reality and Eight-dimension Audio Analgesia Methods on Pain Perception and Anxiety Levels in Children During Restorative Procedures: A ComparativeInternational journal of clinical pediatric dentistry · 2024Article
- Recent Developments in the Non-Pharmacological Management of Children's Behavior Based on Distraction Techniques: A Concise Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study evaluated the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) distraction and counter-stimulation (CS) on dental anxiety and pain perception to local anesthesia in children.
methodsA prospective, randomized, single-blinded interventional clinical trial with a parallel design was used. Seventy children 7-11 years old who required local anesthesia (LA) for pulp therapy or tooth extraction were recruited and allocated to two groups with equal distribution based on the intervention. Group CS (n = 35) received CS and Group VR (n = 35) received VR distraction with ANTVR glasses. Anxiety levels (using pulse rate) were evaluated before, during, and after administration of local anesthesia, while pain perception was assessed immediately after the injection. Wong-Baker faces pain-rating scale (WBFPS), visual analog scale (VAS), and Venham's clinical anxiety rating scale (VCARS) were used for pain evaluation. Student's t-test was used to test the mean difference between groups, and repeated measures ANOVA was used to test the mean difference of pulse rates.
resultsSignificant differences in mean pulse rates were observed in both groups, while children in the VR group had a higher reduction (P < 0.05), and the mean VCARS scores were significant in the VR group (P < 0.05). Mean WBFPS scores showed less pain perception to LA needle prick in the CS group while the same change was observed in the VR group with VAS scores.
conclusionsVR distraction is better than CS for reducing anxiety to injection in children undergoing extraction and pulpectomy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.