Effect of sound masking using child-friendly masker sounds on the perception of the dental drill noise in pediatric dental practice: An interventional study

Abstract

Background: Dental anxiety is significantly influenced by the fear and annoyance brought on by the sound of a dental drill. As a result, the welcoming atmosphere at pediatric dental offices is likely to entice young children to come in for examination and treatment. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the masking effect of dental drill noise with the sound maskers on the annoyance rate of pediatric dental patients. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the stimuli in the annoyance experiment, 40 children (20 boys and 20 girls) were enlisted. As masker sounds, dragonfly and whistle sounds were chosen, and the functioning dental drill noise was blended with the original sound level. The participants rated each audio stimulus signal delivered to them in a random order, with the level of annoyance indicated by a color scale corresponding to the intensity of their psychological sense. The mean comparison between the acoustic stimuli was made using the Friedman's test. Based on gender, the mean comparison between acoustic stimuli was made using the Mann–Whitney U-test. Results: The mean annoyance rate of dental drill noise dragonfly sound and whistle sound was 4.83, 1.15, and 3.82, respectively. Gender has a significant effect on masking effect in nonacoustic factor outcomes. Conclusion: The dragonfly sound had the best impact and the most significant reduction in annoyance compared to the sound of the drill. Typically, girls felt more at ease around the dragonfly sound than boys did.