Freeman R, Maguire A, Ryan V et al. The FICTION trial: Child oral health related quality of life and dental anxiety across 3 treatment strategies for managing caries in young children. Comm Dent Oral Epidemiol 2020; DOI: 10.111/cdoe.12537.

…. across three different treatment modalities.

This study recruited 72 dental practices across England, Scotland and Wales and the researchers provided training in clinical procedures, research methods and data collection. Practitioners recruited into the study children aged between 3 to 7 years, who had at least one carious lesion into dentine.

Those with lesions were randomly assigned within each practice to one of three treatment protocols: (1) Best practice prevention alone - diet and toothbrushing advice, topical fluoride application and fissure sealants to permanent teeth; (2) PA + removal of carious tissue under local anaesthetic and placement of a conventional restoration; (3) PA + sealing in the caries with an adhesive restoration or a preformed metal crown.

Around one third of the participating children experienced treatment related anxiety, but the results suggest that there are no clinically meaningful differences in child anxiety levels and quality of life measures across the time of the trial between the three treatment modalities.