Dentist's reassuring touch: effects on children's behavior.

Physical contact with patients by health care providers has been found to benefit the patients by reducing their fearful or avoidant reactions. This study tested whether a reassuring touch could be used during a routine pediatric dental examination to reduce children's anxiety and improve their behavior. Thirty-eight children between 3.5 and 10 years of age were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. Children assigned to the touch condition were patted on the upper arm or shoulder on two separate occasions by the dentist during the examination while simultaneously receiving verbal reassurance and descriptions of the upcoming procedures. Children in the no-touch control condition received only the reassuring verbal descriptions without contact. Results indicated that touched children between the ages of 7 and 10 years (but not children aged 3.5 to 7 years) displayed less fidgeting behavior than their no-touch counterparts (P < 0.05). Post-treatment, children who were touched tended to report greater pleasure (P < 0.06) but less dominance (P < 0.10) than children not touched.