Comparison of Animal-assisted Therapy, Virtual Reality, and Conventional Pretreatment Behavior Modification Techniques: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study

Aim: To compare and assess the effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy (ATT), virtual reality (VR), and conventional pretreatment behavior modification techniques as behavior management tools in 6-12-year-old children. Materials and methods: A total of 90 children falling in the 6-12 years age bracket were included based on selection criteria and were randomly divided into three groups—group I: AAT, group II: VR, and group III: playroom activity. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative anxiety levels were measured using the modified child dental anxiety scale (MCDAS) criteria, sound eyes motor (SEM) scale, and visual analog scale (VAS), respectively, along with objective scores like oxygen saturation and pulse rate (PR) during each phase. Results: No statistically significant difference in MCDAS score, age, Frankl behavior rating scores, preoperative PR, and oxygen saturation was observed among all the groups. Intraoperatively, the anxiety was evaluated objectively using PR and oxygen saturation, and subjectively using SEM scores. A highly statistically significant difference was seen in the SEM scores between all the three groups (<i>p</i> < 0.01). Postoperatively, a highly significant reduction in anxiety levels was observed when PR, oxygen saturation, and VAS scores were assessed. Conclusion: A significant reduction in the anxiety levels of children was seen in AAT and VR, and hence, both methods can be employed to abate the dental anxiety experienced by a child.