Anxiety Reduction for Child Dental Patients/Parents with a Book

Objective: To determine if a book geared to 3 year-olds about the dental visit would reduce anxiety in children or their parents, during and after a dental visit. Methods: Parent/child pairs presenting to a dental visit were randomly assigned to the Dental Book Group (DBG) (n=21) or a Control Group (CG) (n=22). In the DBG, the parent read a specially-created book, and in the CG, the parent read a popular child's book to the child just prior to the session. Parent Anxiety was measured via State-Trait Anxiety Scale, and the child's anxiety was rated by the parent via Children's Fear Survey Schedule–Dental Subscale. Measures were taken before reading the book, after reading the book just before treatment, and when treatment was complete. The children were aged 3-6, rated 3-4 on the Frankl scale, and scheduled for restorative treatment with nitrous oxide/oxygen inhalation. Spanish versions of all materials were available. Results: No one refused participation. Both DBG parents and children were initially (non-significantly) higher on anxiety than the CG. Differences were tested using ANCOVA controlling for baseline anxiety.

Conclusions: A child-level book about the dental visit reduces anxiety at the end of dental procedures in parents and children aged 3-6. It isn't clear what mechanisms occur from the reading that only reduce anxiety at the end.