Patient Management
Michelle Rabizadeh, DDS
Pediatric Dental Resident
St. Barnabas Hospital
St. Barnabas Hospital
Great Neck, New York, United States
Paul Chu, DDS
Program Director
St. Barnabas Hospital
Bronx, New York, United States
Christopher Lane, DDS
St. Barnabas Hospital
Paul Chu, DDS
Program Director
St. Barnabas Hospital
Bronx, New York, United States
Purpose: The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of the stress ball as a distraction technique in children during dental treatment, specifically on its affects with anxiety and cooperation. The idea of cognitive refocusing, “a method based on the theory of pain where a distraction diverts pain perception by focusing attention to more amusing attractions”, was implemented using a stress ball. Since the use of the stress ball is considered an attention grabbing task which requires demand of attention away from the pain source, it is hypothesized that this will help alleviate anxiety in children and introduce an effective behavior management technique that can be implemented by pediatric dentists during treatment.
Methods: Twenty-six participants ages 5-16 were recruited for this study from three dental clinics at St. Barnabas Hospital if restorative procedures were needed. Each subject was shown the Venham picture test to measure dental anxiety prior to, during and after treatment; blood pressure and heart rate were also measured at the same three intervals. The same measurements were recorded at the subsequent visit for the experimental group using the stress ball.
Results: Data was analyzed using a repeated measures analysis test; P> 0.05 thus there was no significant difference found between the control and experimental group. Results will be updated as more data is collected.
Conclusions: Based on the data collected thus far, results suggest that using a stress ball during an operative procedure has no significant effect in decreasing anxiety and increasing cooperation.