Huddar Sandhyarani, Garad Uttkarsha, Patil Anil, P Sujatha, Kolekar Amit, Patil Mrunmayi
Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Dental College and Hospital, Sangli, IND.
Cureus. 2025 Jun 11;17(6):e85810. doi: 10.7759/cureus.85810. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Dental anxiety assessment for visually impaired children is important. Having a clear understanding of a child's anxiety can help tailor the best approach to care for their individual needs.
This study, To Overcome anxiety Using Cognition & Hands (TOUCH), aimed to assess the anxiety levels of visually impaired children before and after administration of the sealant procedure, after explaining the pit and fissure sealant procedure through three different methods: verbal, verbal with Braille, and verbal with tactile demonstration.
A total of 30 children aged 7-9 years were included in this study from a school for visually impaired children. Children were divided into three equal groups: (i) Group A - Verbal (control group), (ii) Group B - Verbal-Braille, and (iii) Group C - Verbal-Tactile. Pre- and post-intervention anxiety levels were measured in each group using the Raghavendra, Madhuri, Sujata Tactile Scale (RMS-TS) and pulse rate monitoring.
All groups showed a decrease in anxiety, but a significant decrease in anxiety was found in the verbal-tactile group and verbal-braille group.
The study demonstrated that using a combination of verbal, braille, and tactile methods to explain the dental procedure effectively reduced anxiety in blind children.
评估视障儿童的牙科焦虑很重要。清楚了解儿童的焦虑有助于针对其个体需求制定最佳护理方法。
本研究“通过认知与触摸克服焦虑（TOUCH）”旨在通过三种不同方法（口头、口头加盲文、口头加触觉演示）解释窝沟封闭术之后，评估视障儿童在进行窝沟封闭术前和术后的焦虑水平。
本研究纳入了一所视障儿童学校的30名7至9岁儿童。儿童被分为三个相等的组：（i）A组 - 口头（对照组），（ii）B组 - 口头 - 盲文组，以及（iii）C组 - 口头 - 触觉组。使用拉格文德拉、玛杜丽、苏贾塔触觉量表（RMS - TS）和脉搏率监测对每组干预前后的焦虑水平进行测量。
所有组的焦虑水平均有所下降，但口头 - 触觉组和口头 - 盲文组的焦虑水平显著下降。
该研究表明，结合使用口头、盲文和触觉方法解释牙科手术可有效降低盲童的焦虑。
