Dental FearNCT06494176
Virtual Reality Exposure for Dental Fear
A study testing neVR Fear the Dentist in people with Dental Fear, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to compare an intervention for dental fear to the usual approach (i.e., whatever your dentist typically does to help you manage fear) in reducing patient fear and making dentist appointments more tolerable. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 13 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Dental Fear
- What is being tested?
- neVR Fear the Dentist
- Type of treatment
- Pill or oral medicine, Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 250 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 9 Aug 2024to Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 13 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Be at least 13 years of age
- Report dental fear of 4 or higher on a scale of 0-10 on the Gatchel dental fear item
- Be able and willing to comply with study procedures
- Provide a signed and dated informed consent form
- Proficient in English because the intervention is in English
- Have access to a smartphone or tablet
Show all 9Show fewer
- If self-referred, have a dental appointment already scheduled with their own dentist.
- If self-referred, live in the NYC metro area or are willing to travel to the NYU College of Dentistry.
- If self-referred, have access to an Oculus headset and live in the U.S.
Who cannot join
- Uncorrected, severe, or profound hearing or visual impairment such as stereoscopy blindness or nystagmus
- Diagnosed with any of the following psychiatric conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to dental trauma, Major Neurocognitive Disorder (Dementia), Schizophrenia, or Intellectual Disability
- Current diagnosis of a balance disorder, such as vertigo
- Lifetime history of cybersickness
- Previous history of epileptic seizures
- A history of cardiac problems
- Are in pain, require urgent care, or whose necessary treatment will be delayed by participating in the study
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Disseminable Evidence-Based Treatment for the Dental Office: Virtual Exposure Tools for Dental Fear - neVR Fear the Dentist
The purpose of this study is to compare an intervention for dental fear to the usual approach (i.e., whatever your dentist typically does to help you manage fear) in reducing patient fear and making dentist appointments more tolerable. The dental fear intervention (called neVR Fear the Dentist™) has two separate steps. Step 1 involves using a mobile app that is based on research-backed approaches to handling dental fear on your smartphone or device. Step 2 is a 1-hour self-administered virtual reality intervention to be completed in the dental office.
This is a randomized study. Participants will be randomized to either the intervention group or an active control.
Investigators hypothesize that participants in the intervention condition will show greater declines in self-reported dental fear and improved oral health-related quality of life during post-treatment and follow-up period.
- Conditions
- Dental Fear
- Being tested
- neVR Fear the Dentist
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
neVR Fear the DentistBehavioural
neVR Fear the DentistTM comprises two major evidence-based interventions. First is a self-administered eHealth app for CBT/ psychoeducation with exposure therapy - delivered via a mobile tablet - that can be completed anywhere. Second is a 1-hr virtual reality exposure treatment (VRET).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| VRET Intervention | Experimental | Not described Receives: Behavioral: neVR Fear the Dentist |
| Active Control | No intervention | Not described |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Reduction in dental fear
Overall dental fear will be measured by the self-report Gatchel Dental Fear Item (Gatchel, 1987). This scale uses a one-item assessment of overall dental fear. Patients rate their dental fear on a scale of 0 = "None" to 10 = "High", with higher scores representing higher levels of fear.
Measured: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Dental fear and anxiety
Dental fear and anxiety will also be measured using the Index of Dental Fear and Anxiety (IDAF; Armfield, 2010), an 8-item patient-report survey. Responses range from 1 = "Disagree" to 5 = "Strongly Agree." Total scores range from 5 to 40 with higher scores representing more dental anxiety/fear.
Measured: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Anticipatory dental fear
Anticipatory dental fear will be measured via self-report using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS; Humphries et al., 1995), a 5-item scale. All items are rated on a 1-5 scale where 1 = "Not Anxious" and 5 = "Extremely Anxious," with total scores ranging from 5 to 25. Higher scores indicate higher dental anticipatory anxiety.
Measured: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted10 Jul 2024
- Study start9 Aug 2024
- Primary completionDec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completionDec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Dental FearStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 250 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- New York University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Virtually Better, Inc.
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Richard Heyman, PhD, Principal investigator, New York University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06494176
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- s23-00772
- Status last verified
- May 2025
- First submitted
- 16 May 2024
- Last updated
- 11 Mar 2026
- Results posted
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 11 Mar 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Disseminable Evidence-Based Treatment for the Dental Office: Virtual Exposure Tools for Dental Fear - neVR Fear the Dentist
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06494176
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- s23-00772
- Conditions
- Dental Fear
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 250 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- New York UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Virtually Better, Inc.
- Study start
- 9 Aug 2024 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 10 Jul 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to compare an intervention for dental fear to the usual approach (i.e., whatever your dentist typically does to help you manage fear) in reducing patient fear and making dentist appointments more tolerable. The dental fear intervention (called neVR Fear the Dentist™) has two separate steps. Step 1 involves using a mobile app that is based on research-backed approaches to handling dental fear on your smartphone or device. Step 2 is a 1-hour self-administered virtual reality intervention to be completed in the dental office.
This is a randomized study. Participants will be randomized to either the intervention group or an active control.
Investigators hypothesize that participants in the intervention condition will show greater declines in self-reported dental fear and improved oral health-related quality of life during post-treatment and follow-up period.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| VRET Intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: neVR Fear the Dentist |
| Active Control | No intervention | – |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 13 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (9 listed)
- Be at least 13 years of age
- Report dental fear of 4 or higher on a scale of 0-10 on the Gatchel dental fear item
- Be able and willing to comply with study procedures
- Provide a signed and dated informed consent form
- Proficient in English because the intervention is in English
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Uncorrected, severe, or profound hearing or visual impairment such as stereoscopy blindness or nystagmus
- Diagnosed with any of the following psychiatric conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to dental trauma, Major Neurocognitive Disorder (Dementia), Schizophrenia, or Intellectual Disability
- Current diagnosis of a balance disorder, such as vertigo
- Lifetime history of cybersickness
- Previous history of epileptic seizures
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| neVR Fear the DentistneVR Fear the DentistTM comprises two major evidence-based interventions. First is a self-administered eHealth app for CBT/ psychoeducation with exposure therapy - delivered via a mobile tablet - that can be completed anywhere. Second is a 1-hr virtual reality exposure treatment (VRET). | Behavioural | VRET Intervention |
Primary outcome
Reduction in dental fear
Time frame: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Overall dental fear will be measured by the self-report Gatchel Dental Fear Item (Gatchel, 1987). This scale uses a one-item assessment of overall dental fear. Patients rate their dental fear on a scale of 0 = "None" to 10 = "High", with higher scores representing higher levels of fear.
Dental fear and anxiety
Time frame: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Dental fear and anxiety will also be measured using the Index of Dental Fear and Anxiety (IDAF; Armfield, 2010), an 8-item patient-report survey. Responses range from 1 = "Disagree" to 5 = "Strongly Agree." Total scores range from 5 to 40 with higher scores representing more dental anxiety/fear.
Anticipatory dental fear
Time frame: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.
Anticipatory dental fear will be measured via self-report using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS; Humphries et al., 1995), a 5-item scale. All items are rated on a 1-5 scale where 1 = "Not Anxious" and 5 = "Extremely Anxious," with total scores ranging from 5 to 25. Higher scores indicate higher dental anticipatory anxiety.
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 11 Mar 2026.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Richard Heyman, PhD principal investigator
New York University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing neVR Fear the Dentist in people with Dental Fear, run by New York University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 9 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 11 Mar 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Reduction in dental fear (time frame: Measure will be collected at baseline, immediately post-treatment, and 1-, 3-, and 6-months post treatment.). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 11 Mar 2026.