On Edge in the Dental Chair: Designing VR Support for Moments of Dental Anxiety
TL;DR
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.
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.
