Assessment of dental anxiety in children between 5 and 10 years of age in the presence of a therapy dog: a randomized controlled clinical study.

PURPOSE: Children are often afraid to visit a dentist. Dental anxiety is a worldwide issue and a barrier to successful treatment outcome. Pet therapy, especially through dogs, has been demonstrated to be beneficial in reducing anxiety. In today's generation, where dopamine is prevalent, attention is hijacked, and children are tethered to screens-this research on animal-assisted therapy outlines the impact on children undergoing simple dental procedures, and to evaluate its use in long-term behavior management, and child and parental acceptance of this technique. METHODS: One hundred and two children between five and 10 years of age and requiring simple dental procedures were selected randomly and divided into two groups. In Group A, dental treatment was carried out in the presence of a therapy dog, and in Group B (the control group), dental treatment was carried out in a regular dental setup. Anxiety levels were evaluated by pulse rate and anxiety rating scale. Prior to exiting the room, the parents were asked to rate the child's interaction with therapy dogs. RESULTS: According to an independent t test, reduction in anxiety was highly significant (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Animal-assisted therapy is an effective behavior management strategy.

The use of interactive distraction technique to manage gagging during impression taking in children: a single-blind, randomised controlled trial.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of interactive distraction technique on the severity of gagging and success of impression taking in children between age 5 and 10 years. METHODS: This single blind, randomised controlled trial recruited 48 children aged 5-10 years requiring maxillary impressions. Selected children were randomly allocated to one of the two groups: (1) Test group, use of interactive distraction, and (2) Control group, no use of interactive distraction, during impression taking. Dental anxiety was scored using Facial Image Scale (FIS) before and after impression taking. Gagging-related Impression Success Scale (GISS) and Gagging Severity Index (GSI) were recorded by a blinded assessor. Nonparametric tests were used to compare the variables between the groups. RESULTS: Maxillary impressions were successfully recorded in all children in the Test group; either with no gag (87.5%) or with gag (12.5%). In 33.3% control children impressions could not be recorded. Statistically significant, strong association was found between the interactive distraction and GISS (p = 0.003, Cramer's V = 0.32). Mean GSI and post-impression FIS scores were significantly lesser in the Test group (p = 0.029 and p = 0.048, respectively). Significant increase in the mean FIS scores was observed after recording impression in the Control group. Post-impression FIS showed significant positive correlation with GSI (Test: p = 0.003, Control: p = 0.009) and significant inverse correlation with GISS (Test: p = 0.003, Control: p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Interactive distraction technique used in this study is a simple, non-invasive and cost-effective method to effectively manage gagging and successfully record a maxillary impression in children between age 5 and 10 years.

Effectiveness of plaque removal with an experimental chewable brush in children between age 9 and 13 years.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of plaque removal of an experimental chewable brush in comparison with a manual brush in children between age 9 and 13 years. METHOD: This single blinded randomised controlled study included a total of 60 healthy children between age 9 and 13 years that fulfilled the selection criteria. Selected children were randomly assigned to manual toothbrush group (MT) and chewable toothbrush group (CT). Children were instructed to use the respective toothbrushes under supervision. Effectiveness of plaque removal was evaluated by recording Turesky's modification of Quigley-Hein index scores (TMQHI) before and after brushing on single use. Difference in the pre-brushing and post-brushing plaque scores between the groups were statistically compared by using Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: TMQHI plaque scores of selected children for the MT and CT groups was found to be statistically similar before using the toothbrush (p = 0.072). Difference between overall plaque reduction scores were found to be 1.0 for MT and 1.13 for CT, which did not reveal statistical significance (p = 0.308). In order to evaluate efficiency of chewable toothbrush, TMQHI scores for buccal and lingual scores were analysed separately, and found no statistical significance in plaque removal on either surfaces (p = 0.944 for buccal, p = 0.080 for lingual). CONCLUSIONS: Chewable toothbrush was found to be as effective in total plaque removal as manual tooth brushing in the children between age 9 and 13 years. The chewable brush may be an appropriate oral hygiene adjunct for school children spending a considerable amount of time out of home.

Periosteum in regeneration of palatal defects.

The influence of the periosteum on the regeneration of palatal bone was investigated in this study. Eighty, 8-week-old, purebred beagle dogs were assigned randomly to four groups: (1) unoperated dogs as a group control; dogs in which the mid-third of the palate was surgically removed and (2) left unrepaired (unrepaired controls); (3) repaired with mucosal flaps; (4) repaired with mucoperiosteal flaps. Five animals from each group were killed at 4, 6, 8, and 12 weeks after surgery and coronal sections examined under light microscopy. Among the animals with complete soft tissue healing, 8 of 12 dogs from Group 2, 11 of 20 from Group 3, and 10 of 19 from Group 4 showed complete bone regeneration. No significant differences were found overall in bone thickness and bone density measurements between Group 3 and Group 4. Histologically, a well-differentiated periosteum was present on the maxilla at 4 weeks, even in animals in which the periosteum had not been preserved in the original flap. These results suggest that maintaining the periosteum at surgical closure does not influence bone regeneration in beagles up to 12 weeks of age. We suggest that osteoprogenitor cells, migrating from the undisturbed local periosteum adjacent to the defect, were responsible for the new bone growth in our study.