A Novel Tool for Evaluation of Dental Anxiety in Children in a Pediatric Dental Clinical Setup

Abstract

Background: One of the major concerns of the current era is Dental anxiety in Pediatric Dentistry. Kids are very well adapted to emojis or emoticons nowadays, and they represent better emotions or moods than a cartoon picture. As a result, this study was carried out to assess a recently created anxiety rating scale. The Jeet Wheel Scale employs emojis and colours to gauge a child’s fear or mood during their first appointment. Aim: The purpose was to develop the innovative anxiety rating scale and evaluate it against the Venham picture test and the Facial Image Scale. Materials and Methods: The Jeet Wheel Scale, Venham Picture Test, and Facial Image Scale were used in the study to measure the dental anxiety of 100 healthy children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old, as well as their preference for a particular scale. RESULT: The mean and standard deviation of anxiety scores measured using Facial Image Scale, and Venham Picture Test, and Jeet Wheel Scale were 1.67 ± 0.87681, and 1.99 ± 1.16771 and 2.79 ± 1.35061, respectively. Amongst the scales used, a significant difference was observed. A strong correlation was observed with the Pearson’s correlation test. The results indicated a strong correlation existed (0.863) between Jeet Wheel Scale and Venham Picture Test, and a strong correlation between Jeet Wheel Scale and the Facial Image Scale (0.802). Based on the above observations, it could be confirmed that Jeet Wheel Scale has high validity. Children preferred Jeet Wheel Scale over the other two established scales. Conclusion: For evaluating children’s dental anxiety, the Jeet Wheel Scale was proven to be more effective.