Background Uncooperative behavior of children due to dental anxiety may interfere with the effective delivery of dental care and compromise the quality of treatment provided. Injection of local anesthesia is one of the most anxiety-inducing stimuli in pediatric dentistry. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of a child-friendly device, having a combined effect of vibration and distraction, with the conventional method of injection on pain, anxiety, and behavior of pediatric patients aged 6–11 years. Methods This randomized, crossover, split-mouth study included 30 children requiring a bilateral inferior alveolar nerve block. The children were equally divided into two groups: group 1, aged 6–8 and group 2, aged 9–11 years. All children were injected with anesthesia using the conventional and device method in two separate sessions. They were assessed for anxiety by measuring the pulse rate before and during the administration of local anesthesia. Behavior was assessed using Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability (FLACC) scale, and the child's experience while receiving anesthesia was assessed using the Wong Bakers Pain Rating Scale. Results Results showed that the children who received local anesthesia using the device method had a lower mean pulse rate, FLACC scores, and pain rating scores than those who received local anesthesia using the conventional method. Conclusion The device method was more effective than the conventional method in managing pain, anxiety, and behavior of patients aged 6–11 years. The device is a cost effective, simple, and child-friendly product for administrating local anesthesia in pediatric patients.

Background An inability to cope with threatening dental stimuli, i.e., sight, sound, and sensation of airotor, manifests as anxiety and behavioral management problems. Behavior modification techniques involving pre-exposure to dental equipment will give children a first-hand experience of their use, sounds, and clinical effects. The aim of this study was to compare the techniques of Tell-Show-Play-doh, a smartphone dentist game, and a conventional Tell-Show-Do method in the behavior modification of anxious children in the dental operatory. Methods Sixty children in the age group of 4-8 years, with Frankl's behavior rating score of 2 or 3, requiring Class I and II cavity restorations were divided into three groups. The groups were Group 1: Tell-Show-Play-doh; Group 2: smartphone dentist game; and Group 3: Tell-Show-Do technique and each group comprised of 20 children. Pulse rate, Facial Image Scale (FIS), Frankl's behavior rating scale, and FLACC (Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, Consolability) behavior scales were used to quantify anxious behavior. Operator compliance was recorded through a validated questionnaire. Results The results showed lower mean pulse rates, lower FIS and FLACC scores, higher percentage of children with Frankl's behavior rating score of 4, and better operator compliance in both the Tell-Show-Play-doh and smartphone dentist game groups than in the conventional Tell-Show-Do group. Conclusion The Tell-Show-Play-doh and smartphone dentist game techniques are effective tools to reduce dental anxiety in pediatric patients.

Dental traumatic injuries are widespread in the population and are a frequent pathology among children and teenagers. Dentists and especially pediatric dentists are commonly confronted with managing dental crown root fractures on a regular basis. Fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) have been used as an alternative to conventional space maintainers in pediatric dentistry. We present here a case of a 11-year-old boy with oblique crown root fracture, treated by placing extracted natural crown with FRC as space maintainer.

Background Dental anxiety in children is a major barrier in patient management. If dental anxiety in pediatric patients is assessed during the first visit, it will not only aid in management but also help to identify patients who are in need of special care to deal with their fear. Nowadays, children and adults are highly interested in multimedia and are closely associated with them. Children usually prefer motion pictures on electronic devices than still cartoons on paper. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate a newly designed scale, the animated emoji scale (AES), which uses motion emoticons/animojis to assess dental anxiety in children during their first dental visit, and compare it with the Venham picture test (VPT) and facial image scale (FIS). Methods The study included 102 healthy children aged 4–14 years, whose dental anxiety was measured using AES, VPT, and FIS during their first dental visit, and their scale preference was recorded. Results The mean anxiety scores measured using AES, FIS, and VPT, represented as mean ± SD, were 1.78 ± 1.19, 1.93 ± 1.23, and 1.51 ± 1.84, respectively. There was significant difference in the mean anxiety scores between the three scales (Friedman test, P < 0.001). The Pearson's correlation test showed a very strong correlation (0.73) between AES and VPT, and a strong correlation between AES and FIS (0.88), and FIS and VPT (0.69), indicating good validity of AES. Maximum number of children (74.5%) preferred AES. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that the AES is a novel and child-friendly tool for assessing dental anxiety in children.

BACKGROUND: Local anaesthetic injections are one of the most feared or anxietyinducing stimuli in dental operatory. Due to the fear of pain attributed to injection of anaesthetic agents providing appropriate dental care in children is difficult. Various methods have been investigated to decrease pain perception during injection. Hence, the present study was directed towards reducing pain perception in pediatric patients by comparing the effect of cooling the injection site and use of local anaesthetic gel. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of topical cooling and the use of local anesthetic gel before infiltration anesthesia in reducing pain in pediatric patients undergoing dental extractions in the maxillary anterior region. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A clinical trial was used to investigate pain perception in 100 healthy pediatric patients in the age group of 8 to 12 years who required infiltration anaesthesia for bilateral maxillary primary anterior teeth extraction. Before infiltration anaesthesia precooling was done on right side, whereas on the left side local anaesthetic gel was applied. The patients were asked to individually rate their pain experience on each side using the visual analogue scale. Scores were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis using Student's t test. Statistical significance was defined at P<0.001. RESULTS: The results of the present study, showed a statistically significant differences between the two groups (P<0.001), with greater pain reduction in the ice group. CONCLUSION: Pre cooling injection site before infiltration anaesthesia significantly reduced the pain perception in pediatric patients when compared to local anaesthetic gel. Pre cooling of the injection site before infiltration anesthesia is an easy, reliable, and effective technique with no additional cost and can be beneficial to apply to all pediatric patients to reduce discomfort and facilitate clinical management.