| ■ Sensory Changes Ease Children's Dental Visit Anxiety | 2009.02.23 |
| Playing soothing music, altering the lighting, and other sensory changes can help ease children's anxiety during a dental appointment, suggests an Israeli study that included 35 youngsters, ages six to 11. Their anxiety levels were monitored during two routine cleaning visits. The first was a normal visit, with fluorescent lighting and an overhead dental lamp. For the second visit, the researchers removed the overhead lighting, added a slow moving, repetitive color lamp, and the dental hygienist wore an LED headlamp that shone into the child' mouth, CBC News reported. In addition, the dental chair was modified to vibrate, the children listened to soothing music and they wore a heavy vest designed to feel like a hug. The changes reduced children's anxious behavior from an average of 3.69 minutes to 1.48 minutes. The reduction was even greater among children with developmental disabilities -- from 23.44 minutes to 9.04 minutes, CBC News reported. |