Comparison of anxiety levels associated with noise in the dental clinic among children of age group 6-15 years.

Fear or anxiety due to noise produced in the dental clinic is rated third among the reasons to avoid dental visits. The aim of the present study was to determine anxiety levels associated with noise in a dental clinic. The study was done using a survey questionnaire containing 10 questions and was divided into two parts. The first part included demographic information such as name, age, gender, and school; the second half included questions regarding patient's feelings toward noise in the dental clinic and its possible link to dental anxiety. Two-hundred and fifty children and adolescents of age group 6-15 years participated in the study. Results of the study showed that 50% of females, 29% males avoided a visit to the dentist because of anxiety and fear, 38% subjects of age group 6-11 years reported that sound of the drill makes them uncomfortable, followed by having to wait in the reception area. Gender gap was also observed with more females feeling annoyed than males on the 1-10 annoyance level scale. More than 60% felt "annoyed" to "extremely annoyed" by noise in the dental clinic. 45% of subjects preferred watching television to cope with such noise. This study concludes that the noise produced in dental clinic is anxiety provoking and significantly contributes to avoidance of dental treatment and the best way opted by the majority of subjects to overcome this anxiety was audiovisual distraction method.

Hand, foot and mouth disease.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute viral illness with a distinct clinical presentation of oral and characteristic distal extremity lesions. Knowledge of this is important for the dentists as the oral lesions are the first clinical signs and sometimes may be the only sign because the condition occasionally may regress even before the lesions appear on the extremities. This case describes a 5-year-old boy in whom low-grade fever of 38.7°C and oral lesions were the initial manifestations. Proper diagnosis was established later based on the typical location of the initial intraoral ulcers on the soft palate followed by cutaneous lesions on the hands and feet with vesicle formation surrounded by an erythematous halo. The recognition of HFMD is important for both pediatricians and pedodontists as oral manifestations are the first signs and may mimic many other conditions like acute herpetic gingivostomstomatitis, apthous stomatitis, chickenpox, erythema multiformae and misdiagnosis may involve an inappropriate prescription of medication.