Title
Comparative evaluation of nitrous oxide, melatonin and their combination for managing pediatric dental anxiety – An in vivo study
Authors
A. Infant Samraj*, Vikas Verma, Vanika Arora, Ravindra Pratap Singh, Prerana Bhatt & H. Hareesh
Affiliation
Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Divya Jyoti College of Dental Science and Research, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author
A. Infant Samraj - E-mail: infantians222001@gmail.com; Phone: +91
6383723406
Vikas Verma - E-mail: vvikas5074@gmail.com; Phone: +91 7838392722
Vanika Arora - E-mail: vanikaarora1@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9045666440
Ravindra Pratap Singh - E-mail: ravindra.singh.rs22@gmail.com;
Phone: +91 9837022113
Prerana Bhatt - E-mail: drpreranabhatt@gmail.com; Phone +91
9897288344
H. Hareesh - E-mail: hareeshsharma214@gmail.com; Phone: +91
8248975436
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received September 1, 2026; Revised September 30, 2026; Accepted September 30, 2026, Published September 30, 2026
Abstract
Dental anxiety in children remains a major challenge in paediatric dentistry and safer adjuncts such as nitrous oxide and melatonin are being explored to improve behavior management. Therefore, it is of interest to compare tell-show-do, nitrous oxide inhalation sedation, oral melatonin and their combination in children aged 5–12 years with negative behavior who required treatment under local anesthesia. Anxiety was assessed using a Visual Analogue Scale and pulse rate before and after intervention and the combination of nitrous oxide with melatonin produced the greatest reduction in anxiety and physiologic stress, followed by nitrous oxide alone and melatonin alone. The control group showed the least improvement and greater physiologic reactions. Thus, we show that combining nitrous oxide and melatonin may offer a promising and safe approach for managing dental anxiety in children.
Keywords
anxiety, nitrous oxide, melatonin, pediatric dentistry, inhalation sedation, dental fear.
Citation
Samraj et al. Bioinformation 22(9): 5594-5598 (2026)
Edited by
Vini Mehta
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
