Trial reportJournal of the American Dental Association (1939)2025
Evaluating effects of animal-assisted therapy on pediatric dental care patients: A pilot clinical trial.
Trial report in Journal of the American Dental Association (1939), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Animal Assisted Therapy's Effects on Dental Patients
Animal Assisted Therapy as a Behavioral Management Technique During Dental Treatment in Pediatric Patients
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dog-assisted therapy in paediatric dentistry: physiological, psychological, and family-centred benefits in managing child dental anxiety.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Article
- Are therapy animals the key to happier dental visits for children?Evidence-based dentistry · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of Nonpharmacological Approaches to Control Anxiety in Pediatric Dentistry.International journal of pediatrics · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn estimated 6% through 22% of children have dental anxiety, which can contribute to disruptive behavior and oral health care avoidance. Evidence from medical settings indicate reductions in pain and stress after therapy dog implementation. To identify a low-risk, nonpharmacologic approach for anxiety and pain management in dentistry, a pilot prospective clinical trial was conducted to determine best practices for evaluating the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy (AAT).
methodsThe effects of AAT on pediatric patients were measured through physiological, objective measures (ie, heart rate, salivary cortisol and α-amylase, and video coding) and validated self-reported scales of anxiety, fear, and pain, during an invasive dental procedure. Children aged 7 through 14 years were consecutively enrolled into an AAT (n = 18) or control (n = 21) group. Participants underwent an operative or surgical (eg, extraction) dental procedure. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used.
resultsParticipants in the AAT group reported significantly less postoperative pain than those in the control group (P = .001). The heart rates of AAT participants dropped after key events and had less variation than control participants. Objective video coding revealed that AAT participants had significantly longer durations of relaxed lower bodies than control participants (P = .204). No differences were seen in salivary cortisol and α-amylase. These physiological and self-report measures are feasible for use in future studies.
conclusionsAAT may be an effective therapy for alleviating anxiety and pain in pediatric dental patients and warrants additional study using both objective physiological end points and subjective self-report measures. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Pending further research, canine therapy may be a valuable addition to dental clinics for anxiety and pain management. This clinical trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. The registration number is NCT04708028.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.