Tactile Pre-Visit Imagery

Tactile Pre-Visit Imagery Effect on Behavior of Children During Dental Procedures

In pediatric dentistry, our primary goals are to prevent dental caries and, when necessary, provide treatment in a safe and comforting environment that minimizes anxiety for young patients. By familiarizing young patients with the steps involved in common dental procedures, tactile pre-visit imagery booklets can reduce the fear of the unknown.

Study Objective/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine whether tactile pre-visit imagery could reduce dental anxiety and fear in pediatric patients prior to their first restorative procedure. An additional aspect of this study entails assessing the patient's behavior and determining if it improves with the use of a tactile pre-visit imagery booklet.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Behavior Change; Dental Anxiety in Children
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Tactile Previsit Imagery Booklet

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90089
      • Recruiting
      • USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry - Pediatric Dental Clinic
      • Contact: Catherine Pham; Phone Number: 213-740-0412; Email: cmpham@usc.edu
    • Santa Ana, California, United States, 92704
      • Recruiting
      • Altamed Dental Clinic
      • Contact: Alyssa Nowlen; Phone Number: 888-499-9303; Email: annowlen@usc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children aged 4-10 years
• ASA I or II
• Patients who have NOT had dental treatment before
• Patients needing at least ONE composite filling or stainless steel crown [CP1] with nitrous oxide and local anesthesia (composite filling must be done at the first treatment visit)
• Parents and children must speak English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with developmental delays or cognitive impairments that may impact their ability to participate in pre-visit imagery activities
• Patients with visual or tactile disabilities associated for a particular medical condition or as reported on their medical history form
• Patients who refuse to wear nitrous hood
• Emergency dental appointments

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tactile Previsit Imagery; Receives tactile previsit imagery booklet	Behavioral: Tactile Previsit Imagery Booklet; Physical Booklet that walks patient through all materials used during the dental treatmne and contains physical items that are going to be used so that patient can touch and feel.
No Intervention: No Tactile Previsit Imagery; No additional previsit imagery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Dental Anxiety	Change in dental anxiety before and after treatment. The Venham Picture test is used to measure the child's anxiety. The scores from the Venham Picture test will be compared between pre- and post- treatment to determine changes in dental anxiety.	At baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after treatment (post-intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Behavior	Change in behavior/cooperation of patient before and after treatment. Child's behavior will be measured using the Frankl Behavior score. The Frankl score will be recorded pre- and post-treatment to determine a change in behavior.	At baseline (preintervention) and immediately after treatment (post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 15, 2026
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 26, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 13, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): July 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 22, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 17, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: HS-25-00212

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No