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Objectives: Dental anxiety among children is a familiar problem. The study (cross sectional) was conducted to evaluate dental anxiety precedes the first dental examination in relation to dental caries experience according to nutritional status of children and to measure salivary alkaline phosphatase in relation to dental anxiety. Material and Methods: A total of 82 children aged six to eight years old, selected from public clinics in Baghdad city were divided into two groups: anxious and non-anxious group according physiological measures (heart rate and oxygen saturation) before first dental treatment. Weight and height for each child were measured to determine the nutritional status (normal weight, overweight and obese). Dental caries (experience and severity) in children with different nutritional status were recorded by using DMF, dmf and Manjie et al indices. Saliva was collected to analyze salivary alkaline phosphatase. Results: No statistical significant differences were observed between anxious and non-anxious children in means of dmf and DMF indices for primary and permanent teeth (p>0.05). Higher mean of D1 (initial enamel caries) was found in non-anxious children than anxious with statistical significant difference (P<0.05) in normal weight children only. Salivary alkaline phosphatase was not significantly different between the two groups.

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Objectives: This study compares the anesthetic efficiency of the intraligmentary needless device (NumBee) and traditional dental syringe utilized to anesthetize mandibular 1st permanent molar, in addition to assessing the pain perception experienced by the subject during anesthesia injection and cavity preparation. Materials and Methods: Non fearful 30 children aged 6-8 years without a history of exposure to dental anesthesia were chosen to participate in the study using a randomized split-mouth design. All of them were indicated for simple class I dental restoration for both of their mandibular 1st permanent molars. In two randomized sequential dental treatment sessions, they were administered local anesthesia using NumBee for one of their treated teeth and a conventional dental syringe for the other tooth. The pain perception for both devices during the local anesthetic injection and during cavity preparation was evaluated by using Wong Baker Faces pain scale while the efficiency was recorded according to the reported symptoms during cavity preparation. Results: Most of girls who injected by NumBee, experienced significantly less pain during the injection than during cavity preparation (p< 0.05). However, when the children were anesthetized with NumBee, the pain experience during cavity preparation was significantly higher than those anesthetized with inferior alveolar nerve block (p<0.05). Conclusion: NumBee provided a more comfortable and less painful injection as compared to Inferior dental nerve block. However, NumBee gives less anesthetic depth than the inferior alveolar nerve block. Clinical relevance: The features of the NumBee device, such as the absence of a needle, an appearance that is less likely to provoke anxiety, a reasonable duration of action, and the non-necessity of anesthetizing the entire dental nerve branch, could provide a more comfortable injection, and children might indeed favor it to the traditional syringe. Trial registration. : No. 576322 Date: 2.6.2022