Child′s dental anxiety: Management by audio and audio-Visual distraction technique - A comparative study

Introduction: The child's emotional and behavioral response to dental treatment is a matter of serious concern to the pediatric dentist. Children usually respond to dental visits with some fear and anxiety. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare two distraction techniques, namely audio distraction and audio-visual distraction in the management of anxious pediatric patients along with an additional parent's perspective on the same subject. Material and Methods: The study comprised of 75 children aged between 4-8 years divided into 3 groups of 25 each. The children were then subjected to 4 visits and at the end of each visit the anxiety levels were assessed using a combination of Venham Picture Test (VPT), Venham Rating of Clinical Anxiety (VRCA), Child Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS), Pulse Rate and Oxygen Saturation. Results: The results of our present study showed that Venham's Picture Test (VPT) was significant when compared with Venham Rating of Clinical Anxiety (VRCA), Child Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS), Pulse Rate and Oxygen Saturation during all the visits with the significant value ranging from 0.00001 to 0.0311 in both inter and intra group comparision. Conclusion: It was concluded that audio-visual distraction was superior to audio distraction alone; furthermore, parents were seen to gauge their progeny's fear more than the child did