A new study funded by more than $5.5 million from the National Institutes of Health will test whether a sensory-adapted dental environment — a novel intervention that provides soothing visual, auditory and tactile input within the dental clinic environment — can reduce anxiety and fear experienced by the general pediatric population during dental treatments.

The project, led by Leah Stein Duker, PhD, OTR/L, of the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, in partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, will be the first full-scale, randomized controlled trial of a sensory-adapted intervention in the dental environment for typically developing children.

The NIH National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grant is the largest, by total dollar amount, to have ever been awarded to a USC Chan faculty member serving as principal investigator.

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