A Method Towards Children's Psychological Health on Dental Visits

The Effect of Using a Camouflaged Dental Syringe on Children's Anxiety and Behavioral Pain

BACKGROUND

Seeing a dental syringe can be terrifying, especially for young children, and hiding it during local anesthesia (LA) administration can sometimes be challenging for the pediatric dentist.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of a camouflaged dental syringe on children's anxiety and behavioral pain in comparison to the traditional dental syringe during local anesthesia administration in pediatric patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This randomized clinical trial included cooperative and healthy 6- to 10-year-old children scheduled for non-urgent dental treatment that required buccal infiltration anesthesia (BIA) in the maxillary arch. The subjects were randomized into either the test or the control groups. In the test group, subjects received BIA using the camouflaged dental syringe. Subjects in the control group received the BIA using a traditional dental syringe. A single-trained dentist administered all the anesthesia. Heart rate (HR) was monitored at three different time points (before, during, and after) the BIA administration. Subjects' anxiety and behavioral pain were measured using Venham's Anxiety Rating Scale (VARS) and the Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, and Consolability (FLACC) scale, respectively, by two trained and calibrated investigators.

RESULTS

A total of 60 subjects with a mean age of 8.3 ±1.3 years were included. The scores of the VARS in the subjects in the camouflaged group were somewhat lower than the subjects in the traditional group, but the observed difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.113). However, subjects in the camouflaged group showed significantly lower FLACC scores compared to the traditional group (P=0.034).

CONCLUSION

The utilization of a camouflaged dental syringe is effective in improving children's behavior during local anesthesia administration; therefore, it is recommended as an alternative to using the traditional syringe.

Dental anxiety: An understudied problem in youth

Dental anxiety and dental phobia typically emerge during childhood; the associated avoidance of dental care can result in oral health problems and is associated with lower quality of life. In this review, we discuss the definition of dental phobia and dental anxiety and issues related to their differentiation. We then review the literature on dental anxiety and dental phobia, including its prevalence, assessment, and sequalae. Moreover, we provide a synthesis of findings on the etiology and maintenance of dental phobia and propose a comprehensive cognitive behavioral model to guide further study. We also present a systematic qualitative and a quantitative review of the treatment literature, concluding that although we have made strides in learning how to prevent dental anxiety in youth, the methods effective in preventing anxiety may not be equally effective in treating youth with dental phobia. We propose a multidisciplinary approach, including those with expertise in pediatric anxiety as well as pediatric dentistry, is likely required to move forward.