Video modelling for reducing anxiety related to the use of nasal masks place it for inhalation sedation: a randomised clinical trial

AIM A randomised controlled trial to investigate if video modelling can reduce the level of dental anxiety and increase the patient's acceptance of the nasal mask usage for children receiving dental treatment using inhalation sedation (IS). METHODS A sample of 80 (8-16 years) children due to have dental treatments under IS were randomly allocated to either the modelling video or the control video (oral hygiene instruction). The level of anxiety was recorded before and after watching the video on the Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale and each child's ability to cope with the subsequent procedure was assessed on the visual analogue scale. A two-group Chi-square test was used as the basis for the sample size calculation; a significance level of 0.025 was chosen rather than the conventional 0.05 to avoid spurious results arising from multiple testing. RESULTS Children in the test group had significantly less anxiety after watching the video than those in the control group throughout the subsequent dental procedure; particullary, at the time of the nasal mask administration (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Video modelling appeared to be effective at reducing dental anxiety and has a significant impact on the acceptance of the nasal mask administration for Inhalation Sedation in children.