Animal Assisted Therapy in Pediatric Dentistry

Patients will be consented, enrolled, and randomly assigned to a control group (no dog) or to an experimental group with dog present only before their dental visit for 3 minutes (+ Short AAT) or to an experimental group with dog present throughout their entire visit (+ Long AAT). Control (no dog) patients will have an active control where they color for 3 minutes before their dental exam, cleaning, and simulated radiographs, without a dog present. Biometric data will be collected with a small wireless wrist device (Shimmer 3) which measures heart rate and sweat response (skin galvanic response). Salivary samples will be taken before and after the dental visit to measure salivary cortisol and amylase, as a metric of physiological stress. Finally, a video feed of body movements during the dental visit will be collected for observational coding. Pre-visit and post-visit surveys will be given to all the patients on their experiences regarding pain, anxiety, and perceptions of the dental experience.