title: Study about the effects of dental noises on the emotional experiences of children aged 6 to 10 years. A pilot  study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of our study is to verify if some of the noises produced in a dental surgery, especially those of high- speed drill and Erbium laser, might cause anxiety to children.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to confirm our  hypothesis, we recorded these noises and then reproduced them to a group of children in a neutral setting, in this case at  school. The children were aged 6 to 10 years, 55.9% were Italian, while the remaining 44.1% were of other  nationalities. Some of them already had a previous experience at the dentist's.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The range of images recalled by  the children is very small, and they all refer to a realistic, imaginary and sometimes daily context (domestic, family and game  related). Such representations have rarely been associated to negative sensations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The noise environment  of the dentist's surgery, for what concerns the two stimuli we analysed (high-speed Drill and Erbium laser), does not cause  an anxious reaction to the majority of children; as a matter of fact the percentage of positive sensations and emotions turns  out to be predominant. The results obtained suggest it would be useful to protect this natural tendency, finding out the best  method to prevent adult models, such as parents or clinical staff, from affecting it in a negative way.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Dentistry, IRCSS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy. vbirar@tin.it
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Birardi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pasini
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D003754:Dental High-Speed Equipment; D006801:Humans; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects