A Comparative Evaluation of Low-frequency, High-frequency Weighted Noise and Animated Audio Stimuli on Dental Anxiety in Pediatric Patients Aged 5–7 Years: A Randomized Controlled Trial

IntroductIonDental fear and anxiety remain a prevalent challenge in pediatric dental care, often adversely affecting a child's behavior, cooperation, and acceptance of treatment.Accordingly, stress reduction forms the foundation of behavior guidance in pediatric dentistry, as outlined by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). 1 Basic behavior guidance techniques such as tellshow-do, distraction, and audiovisual aids are routinely employed to minimize anxiety and promote adaptive coping. 2 In the search for effective nonpharmacological behavior guidance strategies, music has emerged as a culturally universal medium for communication and emotional expression. 3ippocrates recognized music as a form of therapeutic art, underscoring its longstanding role in health and healing practices. 3n this context, audio analgesia, first described by Gardner and Licklider, functions as an adjunctive distraction-based behavior guidance technique. 4Grounded in the Gate Control Theory, auditory stimuli such as music provide competing sensory inputs