Nonpharmacological Behavior Guidance for Children with Special Health Care Needs During Preventive and Treatment Dental Visits: A Systematic Review-Part 3.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness of nonpharmacological behavior guidance interventions used for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) during preventive and dental treatment visits.

Methods: Databases: Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), Embase, and Cochrane Library, were searched from 1946 to February 2022, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing effectiveness of basic and advanced nonpharmacological techniques rendered during a preventive visit (exam, fluoride application, radiographs, and prophylaxis) or a treat- ment visit (simple surgical treatment, sealants, restorative care with or with local anesthesia) with control or other interventions. The primary outcome measures for the studied interventions were reduction in anxiety, fear, pain, and improvement in cooperative behavior. Eight authors determined the included Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), performed data extraction, and assessed the risk of bias (ROB). Standardized Mean Difference calculation and assignment of quality of evidence by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach were done.

Results: Eleven articles qualified for analysis from 219 screened articles. Included studies evaluate the effectiveness of in office strategies such as modeling, audio-visual distraction, sensory adapted dental environment, and picture exchange communication system. The certainty of evidence ranged from Very low to Low and the magnitude of effect varied from trivial to large change in the desired outcomes.

Conclusions: Most basic non-pharmacological behavior guidance techniques showed some trivial to small reduction in self-reported anxiety and/ or improvement in behavior, with audiovisual distraction, Sensory Adapted Dental Environment, and Picture Exchange Communication System showing large reduction in anxiety based on some rating scales. Systematic Review Registration Number: PROSPERO: CRD42022314723.