Paediatric & MIH Study ✓ Peer reviewed

Positive Pre-Visit Imagery Does Not Reduce Dental Anxiety in Children: A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Controlled Trial.

Journal of dentistry for children (Chicago, Ill.) · da Cunha MRC, Costa LNL, Dantas JFS, Lemos LM, Santos PCB · 2026-05-15

Researchers tested whether showing children positive dental images before local anesthesia reduced their anxiety, comparing it to showing neutral nature images. The intervention did not significantly reduce dental anxiety levels in either group.

A plain-English summary of the study's own findings — we don't add our own claims or interpretation. Read the full paper for the complete methods and results, and apply your own clinical judgement.

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