Dental AnxietyNCT07863661
Virtual Reality Storytelling Versus Storybook Reading for Dental Anxiety in Children
A study testing Virtual Reality Storytelling and Traditional Storybook Reading in people with Dental Anxiety and Dental Anxiety in Children, run by King Abdulaziz University at 1 site in Saudi Arabia.
Trial summary
Many children feel anxious before dental treatment. This study compares two ways of helping children feel calmer while waiting for their dental visit: watching a dental story through virtual reality (VR) glasses, or listening to the same story read aloud by the dentist from a printed storybook. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 6 to 10 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Dental Anxiety, Dental Anxiety in Children, Preoperative Anxiety
- What is being tested?
- Virtual Reality Storytelling and Traditional Storybook Reading
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 108 participants
- Where
- 1 siteSaudi Arabia
- Study dates
- 21 Jul 2026to Jan 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
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 6 to 10 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Who may be able to join
- Aged 6-10 years
- Healthy, physically and mentally (ASA I)
- Arabic-speaking parents and children
Who cannot join
- Children younger than 6 or older than 10
- Non-ASA I Children
- Children with conditions that contraindicate VR experience, such as developmental or sensory disorders.
- Acute illness that might affect HR reading or anxiety
- Non-Arabic-speaking
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Saudi Arabia1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Amani Ahmad Al Tuwirqi
Jeddah, Mecca Region, 21589
Amani Ahmad AlTuwirqi, Doctorate in Pediatric Dentist, +966540606742, aaltuwirqi@kau.edu.sa
Yasmeen Ali Alqarni, BDS,MSc in Pediatric Dentistry, +966542858539, YALQARNI0053@stu.kau.edu.sa
About this study
Official title: Effect of Virtual Reality Storytelling vs. Traditional Storybook Reading on Preoperative Anxiety in Pediatric Dental Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Many children feel anxious before dental treatment. This study compares two ways of helping children feel calmer while waiting for their dental visit: watching a dental story through virtual reality (VR) glasses, or listening to the same story read aloud by the dentist from a printed storybook. The story is in Arabic and follows a girl named Amira during her first dental visit. The story is identical in both groups, so the only difference is how it is delivered. Healthy children aged 6 to 10 years will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The main outcome is the child's heart rate, measured before and after the story as an objective sign of anxiety. Children's dental fear will also be assessed with two child-friendly scales, and parents' own dental anxiety will be measured to see whether it is related to their child's anxiety. The study aims to find out whether VR storytelling differs from a traditional storybook in its effect on children's anxiety before dental treatment.
Read the detailed description
This is a randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups (1:1). A total of 108 children (54 per group) will be enrolled at King Abdulaziz University Dental Hospital, allowing for 20% attrition. Group assignment uses sealed envelopes drawn by the child after enrollment and baseline assessment. Group I watches the digital story in VR during the waiting period. Group II listens to the same story read aloud from the printed book. Heart rate, the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS), and the Facial Image Scale (FIS) are recorded before and after the intervention. Parental dental anxiety is measured with the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), and caries experience with the dmft/DMFT indices. The dentist delivering the intervention cannot be blinded, but the statistician analyzing the data is blinded to group allocation
- Being tested
- Virtual Reality Storytelling, Traditional Storybook Reading
- Keywords
- Virtual Reality, Storytelling, Storybook, Pediatric Dentistry, Heart Rate, Non-pharmacological Behavior Management, Distraction
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Virtual Reality StorytellingBehavioural
Children watch a digital animated story (Arabic, about a girl named Amira on her first dental visit) through VR glasses during the waiting period, before dental treatment
Traditional Storybook ReadingBehavioural
The dentist reads aloud the same story (same storyline, narration, dialogue, characters, and sequence of events) from the printed storybook during the waiting period, before dental treatment.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| VR Storytelling | Experimental | Children watch the digital story through VR glasses in the waiting period before treatment. Receives: Behavioral: Virtual Reality Storytelling |
| Storybook Reading | Active comparator | Children listen to the same story read aloud by the dentist from the printed storybook in the waiting period before treatment. Receives: Behavioral: Traditional Storybook Reading |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Heart Rate
Heart rate will be measured in beats per minute (bpm). Measurements will be obtained at baseline before the assigned storytelling intervention and again after the intervention while the child is seated in the dental chair immediately before the dental procedure begins. The post-intervention heart rate will be compared between the virtual reality storytelling and traditional storybook groups.
Measured: Immediately after the intervention, before the dental procedure begins
Secondary outcomes (2)
Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS)
The CFSS-DS is a 15-item questionnaire used to assess children's dental fear. Each item is scored from 1 ("not afraid at all") to 5 ("very afraid"), producing a total score ranging from 15 to 75. Higher scores indicate greater dental fear. CFSS-DS will be assessed before and immediately after the assigned intervention.
Measured: Immediately after the intervention, before the dental procedure begins
Facial Image Scale (FIS)
The Facial Image Scale is a child-friendly visual measure of situational dental anxiety consisting of five faces ranging from very happy to very unhappy. Scores range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater situational anxiety. FIS will be assessed before and immediately after the assigned intervention.
Measured: Immediately after the intervention, before the dental procedure begins
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted7 Oct 2026
- Study start21 Jul 2026
- Primary completionJan 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionJan 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Dental AnxietyStudies 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
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Two parallel groups (1:1): VR storytelling vs. traditional storybook reading with identical story content
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 108 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- King Abdulaziz University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Amani Ahmad Al Tuwirqi, King Abdulaziz University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07863661
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 111-06-25
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 2 Oct 2026
- Last updated
- 7 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Individual participant data will not be shared with other researchers. Study data will be kept confidential and will be used only by the research team for the purposes of this study and related academic publication.