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. 2025 Sep;18(9):1110-1115.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-3264. Epub 2025 Sep 15.

Evaluating the Impact of Self-designed Dental Storybooks on Anxiety in 5-8-year-old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Satish Maran  1 , Halaswamy V Kambalimath  2 , Kanchan S Adchitre  1 , Rini R Gangwal  1 , Niharika A Vyas  1 , Nivriti Chaddha  1 , Urvi P Gala  3 , Shadma Qureshi  1 , Prerna S Mishra  4
Affiliations

Evaluating the Impact of Self-designed Dental Storybooks on Anxiety in 5-8-year-old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Satish Maran et al. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2025 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Fear of dentists is a very big factor that discourages children from seeking dental services, and might even cause children to be nervous in general. Most children experience anxiety during their first dentist appointment. Children may be better prepared for their first dental appointments and feel more at ease with the use of interactive activity books or stories that provide good information about the dentist. An important part of a pediatric dentist's job is to help patients regulate their behavior in a healthy way without resorting to medication.

Aim: The objective of the research was to assess and contrast how a self-designed dental storybook affected anxiety levels, specifically in the age group of 5-8 years.

Design: This research was a controlled, randomized experiment.

Materials and methods: The participants in the research were 400 kids between the ages of 5 and 8. The kids were divided into two groups at random: one that received an intervention via a self-designed dental storybook, and the other that served as a control. Researchers tracked participants' heart rates, facial image scale (FIS) scores, and Venham scale (VS) readings throughout a single dental appointment (screening and examination), both before and after the intervention.

Results: The results of this study state that the implementation of a self-designed dental storybook in early dental visits will significantly reduce dental anxiety among children.

Conclusion: Utilization of a self-designed dental storybook as an adjunctive tool is anticipated to be a promising behavior modification technique for children for reducing anxiety and can be used as an oral health education tool.

How to cite this article: Maran S, Kambalimath HV, Adchitre KS, et al. Evaluating the Impact of Self-designed Dental Storybooks on Anxiety in 5-8-year-old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2025;18(9):1110-1115.

Keywords: Behavior management; Chota Bheem; Dental anxiety; Dental fear; Oral health education; Storybook.

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Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: NoneConflict of interest: None

Figures

Fig. 1:
Fig. 1:
Cover page storybook, which is in English and Hindi
Fig. 2:
Fig. 2:
A glance of the “First Dental Visit of Raju: Dental Storybook”
Fig. 3:
Fig. 3:
Shows that the current study was structured according to the standards of the consolidated standards of reporting trials
Fig. 4:
Fig. 4:
Facial image scale
Fig. 5:
Fig. 5:
Chota Bheem–Chutki scale
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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