Effect of Aromatherapy in Combination with Relaxation Music and Visual Distraction on Pediatric Dental Patients'...

Pediatric dental anxiety requires reposeful approaches. Aromatherapy offers a gentle solution for childhood anxiety, promoting relaxation and calmness.

To assess and compare the effectiveness of aromatherapy with music and visual distraction techniques in the treatment of anxious pediatric dental patients.

This study sought to determine the impact of aromatherapy on children's anxiety levels during dental procedures. Forty-five children, aged 4-9 years, who were there for their first dental appointment, were part of the study. Three groups (group I: Aromatherapy combined with audiodistraction, group II: Aromatherapy mixed with audiovisual distraction, and group III: Control group) were randomly assigned to the samples. For every child, pretreatment baseline anxiety was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS), which was followed by restorative treatment. Using the faces, legs, activity, cry, and consolability scale (FLACC), procedural pain was evaluated. Version 23.0 of SPSS software was used to conduct the statistical analysis after the data were entered into a spreadsheet.

A significant difference in the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was observed among anxiety scores in groups I and II compared to the control. When the FLACC scores were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, the values were significantly lower in groups I and II compared to the control group.

A mixture of visual or auditory distraction, aromatherapy, or both may be used as behavior management strategies to help the child feel more comfortable and to make the dental appointment pleasant for the patient, parent, and dentist.

Bagaria R, Mathur R, Rathore AS, et al. Effect of Aromatherapy in Combination with Relaxation Music and Visual Distraction on Pediatric Dental Patients' Anxiety. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2026;19(1):29-33.