The Impact of Dental Operatory Color on Anxiety in Committed Youth

Purpose: To examine the impact of dental operatory room color on the level of anxiety in committed youth at a juvenile correctional center. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a juvenile correctional center using an approved continuous quality assurance survey. The dental assistant collected self-reported anxiety scores from 164 individuals alternating between two dental operatory rooms. One dental operatory room was painted with color while the other dental operatory room was unaltered (white). Repeated measures linear models were used to test for associations between visit type, visit number and operatory. Results: For 65 percent of visits, little to no anxiety was reported. Among the remaining visits, anxiety scores were on average 1.13 points higher across all appointment types in the non-colorful operatory room but were not statistically significant (P=0.1373, 95 percent confidence interval [95% CI] = -0.37 to 2.63). Anxiety scores were, on average, 1.7 points higher in the non-colorful room when selected for more anxiety- inducing restorative or emergency appointments (P=0.4371, 95% CI = -1.37 to -4.82), which indicated some clinical significance but was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The color of a dental operatory room did not have a statistically significant effect on lowering the level of anxiety in incarcerated youth but may have a clinically significant effect that should be further researched.