Fox C, Newton J T
Taunton Dental Access Centre, South Somerset Primary Care Trust, Taunton, Somerset, UK.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2006 Dec;34(6):455-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.2006.00303.x.
Dental anxiety is common in children. This study sought to determine the impact of viewing positive images of dentistry prior to a dental appointment on the anticipatory dental anxiety levels of children attending for dental treatment.
Controlled trial. Assessment of anxiety and analysis of data were conducted blind to experimental condition. Assessment of anxiety was carried out in the waiting room postintervention but before the patient entered the dental surgery for treatment.
Thirty-eight children and young adults attending a dental clinic in South West England.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. In both conditions the participant was asked to look at photographs for 2 min in the waiting area prior to their appointment. The intervention consisted of viewing positive images of dentistry and dental treatment, the control condition consisted of dentally neutral images. Positive and neutral images were validated independently by four paediatric dentists. The assessment of anticipatory dental anxiety was made blind to experimental condition and statistical analysis was conducted blind to group membership.
Anticipatory anxiety assessed by the Venham Picture Test.
A significant difference in anticipatory dental anxiety was found between the two groups (median-positive images = 0, median-neutral images = 3; P < 0.001). Anticipatory anxiety was not correlated to age (rho = 0.04 P > 0.05), there was no difference between male and female participants in their level of anticipatory anxiety (median-males = 0.5, median-females = 1 P > 0.05).
Viewing positive images of dentistry and dentists results in short-term reductions in anticipatory anxiety in children.
牙科焦虑在儿童中很常见。本研究旨在确定在牙科预约前观看牙科正面图片对前来接受牙科治疗的儿童预期牙科焦虑水平的影响。
对照试验。焦虑评估和数据分析在对实验条件不知情的情况下进行。焦虑评估在干预后但患者进入牙科手术室接受治疗前的候诊室进行。
38名在英格兰西南部一家牙科诊所就诊的儿童和年轻人。
参与者被随机分配到两种情况之一。在两种情况下，参与者在预约前都被要求在候诊区看2分钟照片。干预措施包括观看牙科和牙科治疗的正面图片，对照条件包括牙科中性图片。正面和中性图片由四位儿科牙医独立验证。预期牙科焦虑的评估在对实验条件不知情的情况下进行，统计分析在对组成员不知情的情况下进行。
通过韦纳姆图片测试评估预期焦虑。
两组之间在预期牙科焦虑方面存在显著差异（正面图片组中位数 = 0，中性图片组中位数 = 3；P < 0.001）。预期焦虑与年龄无关（rho = 0.04，P > 0.05），男性和女性参与者在预期焦虑水平上没有差异（男性中位数 = 0.5，女性中位数 = 1，P > 0.05）。
观看牙科和牙医的正面图片可使儿童的预期焦虑短期内降低。
