Breathing out dental fear: a feasibility crossover study on the effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing in children sitting on the dentist's chair

Background: Anxiety related to the dental context is a clinically significant challenge. In children, dental fear is often accompanied by disruptive and uncooperative behaviours that can render treatment difficult. While techniques to reduce children's anxiety exist, many have not been formally evaluated. Design: Diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to reduce fear and anxiety, but few investigations have evaluated whether it can reduce dental anxiety in children. The present crossover study tested the effectiveness and feasibility of diaphragmatic breathing in twenty children undergoing dental care. Results: Compared to treatment as usual, such simple technique had significant benefits on mood, self-reported pain, and autonomic balance, reducing sympathetic activation. Conclusions: Being low-cost, easy to implement and suitable with daily dental practice, diaphragmatic breathing represents a promising tool for reducing negative affect and physiological distress in children with dental anxiety, potentially leading to more cooperative behaviours and reduced visit time.