Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34300185›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2021

Behaviour and Anxiety Management of Paediatric Dental Patients through Virtual Reality: A Randomised Clinical Trial.

Cristina Gómez-Polo, Ana-Aida Vilches, David Ribas, Antonio Castaño-Séiquer, Javier Montero

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07693764 ("Evaluation of Virtual Reality Based Distraction on Anxiety and Pain Perception in Paediatric Dental Extraction), which is not on this map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT07693764 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

"Evaluation of Virtual Reality Based Distraction on Anxiety and Pain Perception in Paediatric Dental Extraction: A Randomized Controlled Trial"

TypeinterventionalSponsorSultan Qaboos UniversityRan2026 to 2027Enrolled168ConditionsDental Anxiety in Children, Pain PerceptionArmsVirtual reality headset, Audio-visual distraction with 2D cartoons, Tell-show-do with verbal distraction
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. The influence of immersive tools on children's dental anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Cristina Gómez-PoloDepartment of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-7663-5841
Ana-Aida VilchesPrivate Dental Practice in Seville, 41003 Seville, Spain.
David RibasDepartment of Stomatology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Seville, Calle Avicena S/N, 41009 Seville, Spain.ORCID 0000-0001-6123-9216
Antonio Castaño-SéiquerDepartment of Stomatology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Seville, Calle Avicena S/N, 41009 Seville, Spain.
Javier MonteroDepartment of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-3936-6539

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Clinicians should appreciate the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) headsets for managing both the anxiety and the behaviour of non-cooperative paediatric patients who require treatment over several dental appointments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of using a VR headset as a distraction for managing the anxiety and behaviour of paediatric patients during their dental treatment. Eighty patients, aged between five and ten years old and who required dental treatment over three or more appointments, were randomly allocated into two groups. One group used a VR headset during all their appointments, and the other one did not use any distraction technique. The patients were asked to take a Facial Image Scale Test during their first and last appointments to assess their level of anxiety. Additionally, the dentist completed the Frankl Test to quantify the child's behaviour at the beginning and the end of their treatment. The results obtained, both from the group using the VR headset and from the control group, were compared using the chi-square test. The use of a VR headset during dental treatment significantly reduced anxiety (95% of the children were happy) and improved behaviour (100% positive behaviour) as compared with the control group (40% and 57.5%, respectively). A VR headset can effectively distract a paediatric patient, helping to reduce anxiety and manage behaviour during dental treatment.

Indexed as

anxietybehaviourdental treatmentvirtual reality

Identifiers

PMID34300185
PMCPMC8304330

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.