The Use of Immersive Virtual Reality for Pain Control during Periodontal Scaling and Root Planing Procedures in Dental Hygiene Clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effect of immersive virtual reality (VR) on pain perception during scaling and root planing procedures (SRP) in dental hygiene clinic.

METHODS: Participants were recruited based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Within-subject/split-mouth design was used in this study.The participants received a full mouth SRP. The participants were divided into two treatment conditions: (1)without VR condition or (2)with VR condition. Blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate (PR) were measured. Level of pain was measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).Participants gave ratings using 0-10 scales with cut points on the scale indicating that (0) none, (1-3) mild, (4-6) moderate, or (7-10) severe. Participants were also asked 3 questions to assess presence, realism, and nausea.The immersive virtual environment used for this study was nonviolent and inoffensive.

RESULTS: Data were analyzed using SPSS® software. Fifty subjects with a mean age of 36 years completed the study.The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that VAS scores were significantly (p=<0.05) lower during VR compared without VR condition.Paired T-tests revealed that on average, participants experienced significantly lower systolic Bp after using VR (M=113.72, SE=2.16) than systolic Bp after treatment without VR. However, Bp (diastolic) and PR showed no difference.84%of the participants felt like they went inside the virtual world, 82% felt that the virtual objects seem real to them, and 94% did not feel nausea.98% of the participants preferred using VR during SRP.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the immersive VR has the potential in becoming a future method for pain control during scaling and root planing procedures. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.