What is dental fear costing your practice?
A fearful child costs $918 a year more to treat. Paperplane calms that fear. See what reducing it could be worth across your patients.
Paperplane Therapeutics · ROI
How big is your fear problem?
You already manage most of your anxious patients. It's the smaller group needing extra time or special measures that quietly costs you — see what that residual group is worth to recover.
Residual fear cost / mo
$1,836
Two quick numbers about your practice; the estimate updates instantly. One simple monthly subscription — no separate hardware cost to factor in.
60
Fearful or anxious patients on your monthly schedule.
40%
Patients needing extra time or special measures to get through a visit — your residual group, the one Paperplane is built to shrink.
Each residual patient carries $918/yr in extra care cost (cost-of-fear pilot) — about $77/mo. Paperplane recovers ~40% of it (clinical trial).
— Your residual problem —
Fear cost / month
$1,836
24 residual patients × $77/mo each
Recoverable with Paperplane / mo$734
Paperplane cost / mo$129
Net gain / month$534
Return for every $1 spent$3.67
We'll never share your email.
The clinical proof behind the numbers
Randomized trial · CHU Sainte-Justine · 385 children aged 6–172.05× odds
Higher odds of keeping anxiety controlled vs a tablet distraction (p = 0.003).
−41%
Less observed pain during treatment (FLACC-R 1.7 → 1.0).
9.3/10
Parent satisfaction with VR visits (vs 8.6 control).
34%
Of participants were neurodivergent — with significant gains in anxiety control and cooperation.
~5%
Mild, temporary side effects (headache/fatigue); no serious adverse events.
How this is calculated ›
1Your residual group. The anxious patients you set on the second slider — the ones taking longer than a routine appointment (extra time or special measures). These match the "fearful" cohort in the cost study.
2Cost of fear — measured. Each of those patients costs $918/yr more to treat than a well-managed one ($1,181 vs $263, p<0.001) — about $76.50/mo. COST PILOT
3Recovered by Paperplane — from the trial. Pain fell 41% and anxiety stayed controlled at ~2× the odds → a conservative ~40% of that cost recovered (~$30.60/mo per patient). RCT
residual = patients × residual% residual cost/mo = residual × ($918÷12) recoverable/mo = residual cost/mo × 40% net/mo = max(0, recoverable − membership)
How to read this. The 40% recovery is an interpretation — the trial measured pain and anxiety, not cost, so we use the pain reduction as a proxy for how much of the fear cost is relieved. The $918 is a measured annual cost of care (payer/family view); this calculator shows it as a monthly rate (÷12) to match your monthly patient volume and membership billing. Net gain is floored at $0. Move the residual slider to match what you actually see in your chairs.
EFFICACY Randomized parallel-group trial, CHU Sainte-Justine, children 6–17 (n = 385; 34% neurodivergent). Dream Dental VR vs active tablet distraction; nitrous oxide excluded. Anxiety OR 2.05 (p = 0.003); observed pain −41%; parent satisfaction 9.3/10.
COST PILOT Baker et al., WDC 2024 (n = 89 fearful vs 89 matched): fearful child $1,181 vs $263 (+$918/yr, p < 0.001); care starts ~2.2 years later.
Where the $918 comes from ›
| Cost category | Fearful | Non-fearful | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restorative | $573 | $32 | +$541 |
| Previous visits (other clinics) | $94 | $7 | +$87 |
| Pulp therapy | $66 | $7 | +$59 |
| Surgical & extraction | $56 | $7 | +$49 |
| Drugs (antibiotic + analgesic) | $39 | $0 | +$39 |
| Prevention | $53 | $16 | +$37 |
| Initial exam | $189 | $183 | +$6 |
| Grand total | $1,181 | $263 | +$918 |
Estimate bridges two studies: the cost of dental fear ($918/yr per fearful child, Baker et al., WDC 2024, shown here as a monthly rate) and the reductions in pain and anxiety from Paperplane's randomized controlled trial. The recovery rate applied to cost is an interpretation, not a measured cost outcome; net gain is floored at $0; figures are directional and vary by practice, fee schedule, and payer mix. Billed as a single monthly membership.
See what Paperplane could save your practice
Less patient anxiety, fewer disrupted appointments, more chair time.