Prize-Distraction: A Combinatory Behavior Guidance Technique for Decreasing the Anxiety and Pain of Pediatric Dental Patients

The anxiety of children and their lack of cooperation during dental treatments have made their behavioral management a great challenge for dentists and families. This study aimed to introduce a new technique in children's behavioral guidance called "Prize-Distraction" and compare its efficacy with a "conventional distraction" technique.

This case series study was performed on the dental treatment of three cases (two boys and one girl) using behavioral guidance methods of "Prize-Distraction" and "Story-Telling Distraction" with a split-mouth (cross over) design. The children's behavioral reactions were evaluated using the "Sound Eye Motor (SEM)" scale during local anesthesia injection and tooth extraction procedures. Our results showed that the samples showed fewer behavioral reactions during the treatment using the "Prize-Distraction" method, compared to the "Story-Telling Distraction" technique.

In all three cases, the results of the sum of SEM scores at different times when using the "Prize-Distraction" technique were lower than those in the other technique. It seems that the "Prize-Distraction technique" can have promising results in guiding children's behavior during dental procedures. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this new technique.