Leaning back in the dentist's chair with a drill whirring in the background represents, for most people, one of life's more agitating experiences.
For patients of Dr. Bruce Bothwell, however, such moments simply provide a chance to watch the opening credits.
At Bothwell's practice, on a tree-lined street in the bayside town of Alameda, California, returning patients often come with a DVD or videotape. While the dentist works, patients watch films on a set of goggles that create the ambience of a personal home theater.
"It alleviates some of the apprehension because they're so focused on watching the movie that they're not paying attention to what's going on," said Bothwell, who first saw the goggles on display at a dentists' convention. Some patients are even disappointed when their treatment is over, since it means they'll miss the latter part of the flick in progress.
The goggles, which connect to a VCR or DVD player, consist of small screens that sit in front of each eye, earphones and a padded strap that fits around a viewer's head. While movies actually play about an inch from a viewer's eye, the device creates the illusion that one is watching on a screen several feet away.
Virtual Realities, a company that markets the eye wear as a "patient entertainment system," says its newest version gives the impression of watching a 70-inch screen from 13 feet away. A test screening of the film The Indian in the Cupboard on Bothwell's goggles, an older version, seemed like it was playing a good distance away, though not quite 13 feet. A new version retails for about $900.
Research indicates that goggles can help ease patients' anxieties. A 2001 study published in The Journal of the American Dental Association investigated the effects of a virtual-image eyeglass system on patients' anxiety and pain during dental procedures. Its authors found that subjects reported less discomfort when using the eyeglass system than when they did not.
That said, Bothwell said he hasn't seen goggles in widespread use among his professional colleagues. He's aware of some practices where dentists show movies or programs on a television screen, but isn't keen on the idea.
"The problem I would find with that (is) I might be watching," he said. "If it's a good movie, I might be distracted."
