Fearful pediatric patients can generate higher bills, but they also take more chair time, cause more schedule chaos, and are often less profitable than they look on paper. This post explores the hidden economics of dental fear.
Cost of Fear: Unprofitable Chair Time
A big pediatric case can look good on paper. More procedures, higher billed amounts, a busy schedule. But when dental fear is part of the picture, the numbers tell a different story.
In a pilot study of 178 children aged 1 to 18 that was presented at WDC 2024, the team compared fearful and non-fearful patients:
Fearful patients cost on average $1,181 each at the study center.
Non-fearful patients cost about $263 each.
That is roughly 4.5 times more per fearful child, almost $1,000 extra.
Is that extra $1,000 really good for business?
Not automatically. Those higher costs came from more restorative and pulp therapy, more surgical procedures, more prescriptions, and more visits.
On paper, that can look like more production. In real life, fearful cases often:
Take much longer chair time for similar codes.
Require more staff in the room to manage behaviour.
Need extra breaks and repeated attempts to complete treatment.
Are more exposed to insurance limits, write offs, and unpaid balances.
When one fearful child occupies the chair for the time you could treat two or three calm children, your production per hour can quietly drop.
The hidden costs you feel but do not see in reports
More no shows and last minute cancellations ("My child refuses to come today").
Appointments that run late and disrupt the rest of the day.
Higher stress for assistants, hygienists, and dentists.
A higher risk of complaints or negative reviews if the visit goes badly.
These are real costs, even if they do not appear as a specific line in your practice management software.
How VR can improve the economics of your day
Immersive virtual reality (VR) does not erase fear completely, but it can change how fear impacts your schedule and your team. VR can help you:
Lower procedural anxiety enough to finish more work in fewer visits.
Support better cooperation and reduce overruns and rebookings.
Make previously "impossible" patients more manageable without always going straight to advanced sedation.
Turn some high risk cancellations into completed appointments because the child is curious about the headset.
The result is more predictable chair time, more completed treatment plans, less emotional drain on your team, and a healthier balance between complex cases and smooth preventive visits.
Our VR solution for dental care was built with exactly this in mind. It helps pediatric teams reduce the functional cost of fear, such as delays, overruns, and chaos, so that the financial side of the practice can breathe a little easier.
