Child friendly colors in a pediatric dental practice.

Background: The child's perception of the dental environment is a significant factor causing dental anxiety. If the color of the dental environment can have a positive impact on the child's behavior, it is possible that those colors may add to the comfort of a child, thus reducing dental anxiety.

Aim: To evaluate the association between color and emotions of children in a pediatric dental set-up.

Design: A total of 300 children aged 6-12 years were divided into 2 groups: Younger children (6-9 years, n = 156) and older children (9-12 years, n = 144). All the children were asked to shade two cartoon faces representing happiness and fear with their most preferred color.

Results: For the positive emotion, 44% (n = 132) of the children preferred yellow, followed by blue 32.67% (n = 98). For negative emotion, 56.67% (n = 170) of the children preferred black and 42.67% (n = 128) preferred red. Association between color and emotion was highly significant (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: This study has attempted to advance the area of color research to dental anxiety in children visiting a dental clinic. The use of child friendly colors like yellow and blue in the dental work place could enhance a positive dental attitude in the child's mind.