ABSTRACT
Aim: To compare and evaluate the effect of sensory-adapted dental environment (SADE) and regular dental environment in reducing anxiety levels in children with intellectual disabilities. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in children with mild intellectual disabilities aged 8–13 years. The developmental screening test was utilized in screening and including these children with IQ scores between 52 and 67, and after random allocation, children were subjected to oral prophylaxis in the SADE and regular dental environment. Anxiety levels were assessed at baseline, 5 min, and at the end of the procedure using Venham's anxiety rating scale, pulse rate, and blood pressure values. Results: The data were coded and analyzed using software SPSS (IBM version 22.0) for statistical analysis. Comparison between the groups was done using independent t-test and repeated measured ANOVA for objective assessment of intergroup and intragroup anxiety levels, respectively, and using Mann–Whitney U-test and Friedman's test for subjective assessment of intergroup and intragroup anxiety levels, respectively. Conclusion: These findings suggest that SADE significantly decreased anxiety levels and cooperative behavior in children with mild intellectual disability and can be used as an alternative behavior management technique in effectively handling children with intellectual disability.
ABSTRACT
Background: Dental anxiety is a common problem, which can affect people of all ages, but appears to develop mostly in childhood. Practitioners use numerous methods to control dental anxiety in children during the dental procedures. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of nitrous oxide/oxygen (N2O/O2) inhalation sedation and video-eyeglass distraction (VED) in the management of anxious pediatric patients during dental extraction. Methods:The study was conducted on 40 children aged 6-12 years who required extraction of at-least one mandibular primary molar under local anesthesia. The children were randomly divided into two groups with 20 children in each – Group-A wearing video-eyeglass and Group-B using N2O/O2 inhalation sedation during dental extraction. The physiological assessment was done by recording heart rate using fingertip pulse oximeter. The psychological assessment was done by recording base line anxiety before the treatment and post treatment anxiety at the completion of extraction using Venham’s anxiety scale (VAS). Independent t-test with p value <0.05 level of significance was used to compare means of two groups. Results: Comparison of Venham’s anxiety score of participants at the completion of extraction, showed statistically no significant difference (p=0.946). The mean pulse rate recorded at different time points between the two groups was also statistically non-significant (P=0.923, 0.957, 1.00 respectively). Conclusion: Both N2O/O2 inhalation sedation and VED were equally effective in reducing anxiety during dental extraction but considering the adverse effects and requirement of expert personnel in N2O/O2 inhalation sedation, VED may be preferred because of its better applicability.