ABSTRACT
Objective: To know the influence of handling child anxiety with modeling and reinforcement technique on changes in pulse rate in dental and oral care. Material and Methods: The sample consisted of 53 children aged 6-12 years who first came to pedodontic clinic in dental and oral hospital education of Hasanuddin University. Anxiety level was measured using objective parameters, measurement of radial pulse. Measurement of anxiety level was done before and after modeling and reinforcement was given through three treatments: I: dental models; II: game and III: video modeling and reinforcement. Data analysis was done using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Friedman test. Results: There was a decrease before and after modeling and reinforcement. Before intervention, the average pulse rates in treatment I, II and III were 90.79, 88.00 and 88.38, respectively. After intervention, the average decrease in pulse rate of five beats per minute seen in the first treatment (85.15), a decrease of seven beats per minute on the second treatment (81.98), while in treatment III the average decrease was eight beats per minute (80.19) (p<0.001). Conclusion: Modeling and reinforcement technique effectively reduces children's anxiety levels for dental and oral care.