Assessment of dental anxiety using braille leaflet and audio dental health education methods in visually impaired children

Background: Dental anxiety is a patient's anxiety response to dentistry due to lack of education on dental health care; it often causes problems during dental check-ups. Visual impairment is a common term for individuals with sight disturbances. This condition affects the individual's access to dental health education, causing high anxiety and accompanying poor dental health. Aim: To compare dental health education approaches in visually impaired children using Braille Leaflet Dental Health Education (BLDHE) and Audio Dental Health Education (ADHE) methods. Methods: This is a clinical experimental study of 40 visually impaired children who were give neither BLDHE or ADHE. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) questionnaire, in Braille, was used to measure dental anxiety. Results: Unpaired t-test statistical analyses showed a significant difference in dental anxiety among visually impaired children after receiving the ADHE method (p<0.05) and no significant difference after receiving the BLDHE method (p>0.05). Conclusion: BLDHE and ADHE, as non-face-to-face dental health education methods, are effective for decreasing dental anxiety in visually impaired children.