Tessellations Therapy – A Fascinating Approach to Anxiety Management in Children

Introduction: Dental anxiety is the most frequently caused fear for children during dental treatments. Distraction involves diverting children’s mind from pain during extensive dental treatments and is useful while tailored to their development. Parents do not prefer invasive methods such as general anesthesia, conscious sedation, or physical restraints. Introducing distraction aids using rubik’s cube or kaleidoscope can help the dental anxiety reduction during dental visits. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the Tessellations therapy using rubik’s cube and kaleidoscope as tools for reducing dental anxiety during the treatment. Materials and Methods: Randomized clinical study was done among the 60 children (5–12 years old) who were divided into three groups of 20 each: Group A (control group – did not receive anything), Group B (received rubik’s cube during treatment), and Group C (received kaleidoscope during treatment the Venham Picture Test was recorded prior to the appointment and after the dental treatment. This study showed that children subjected to rubik’s cube and kaleidoscope therapy had a significant reduction in dental anxiety compared to the control group postdental treatment. Results: This study demonstrated that patients subjected to rubik’s cube and kaleidoscope therapy had a statistically significant reduction in anxiety compared to the control group after the dental treatment. Conclusion: Distraction aids such as rubik’s cube and kaleidoscope, during the dental procedure are effective in decreasing the dental anxiety among children, and it should be introduced during routine clinical practices.