Awareness and disposition towards the clinical use of distraction virtual reality among selected dental healthcare workers in Benin City, Nigeria.

Abstract

Objective: Dental fear has been demonstrated to be common and an unavoidable reaction that appears as a result of the various dental procedure and armamentarium induced stress. The extent of patients’ experiences ranges from nervousness, anxiety to dental phobia, and it has been reported as a huge hinderance for a successful completion of dental procedure or treatment. Dental practitioners have several approaches to control anxiety and pain in patient, and one of the reported suitable technique adopted for the management of behavior and pain during dental procedure is the distraction virtual reality. Therefore, the present study sought to examine awareness and disposition towards the clinical use of distraction virtual reality among selected dental healthcare workers in Benin City, Nigeria.

Methods: This study adopted the survey research design. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed among dentist and dental students in Benin City Metropolitan, however only 72 responses was received. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages. The result of the study revealed that a great proportion of the participants had an inadequate knowledge, as 56.9% of the participants reported that the have not heard about the use of distraction virtual reality in dentistry, and a similar trend of inadequacy was also observed for the responses on have you used the distraction virtual reality for patients, as 88.2% reported with a “No”. As per the willingness to use distraction virtual reality in dentistry, the result revealed that the participants were willing to receive training on the use of distraction virtual reality (84.5%). Also, majority of the participants reported that distraction virtual reality should be incorporated in the curriculum of dental training. Conclusion: Therefore, distraction virtual reality may be considered a good alternative in managing anxious patients in dental operatory and it is also a technique worth practicing in pediatric dentistry.