Efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy for the treatment of dental phobia in adults: A randomized controlled trial

Gujjar KR 1 , van Wijk A 2 , Kumar R 3 , de Jongh A 4

Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Dentistry, SEGi University, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 2 Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • 3 School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Brisbane, Australia
  • 4 Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands; School of Psychology, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland; Institute of Health and Society, University of Worcester, United Kingdom
J Anxiety Disord, 2019 03;62:100-108.
PMID: 30717830 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2018.12.001

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) has proven to be effective in the treatment of various subtypes of specific phobia, there is limited evidence of its role in the treatment of dental phobia.

METHOD: A single-blind RCT was conducted among 30 randomized patients with dental phobia to either VRET or informational pamphlet (IP) condition. Primary outcome anxiety measures (VAS-A, MDAS and DFS) were evaluated at baseline, pre- and post-intervention, 1-week, 3-months and 6-months follow-up. Secondary outcome measures assessed were pre-post behavioral avoidance, temporal variations of heart rate and VR-experience during and post-VRET, and dental treatment acceptance in both conditions at 6-month follow-up.

RESULTS: Intention to treat analysis, using a repeated measures MANOVA, revealed a multivariate interaction effect between time and condition (p = 0.015) for all primary outcome measures (all ps 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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