The Motivation for the Treatment of Dental Anxiety among Children Using 3D Animation

Abstract

Dental fear is a problem faced by most children in Malaysia. For some, a visit to a dental clinic has become a bad experience. They will only meet dentists once they experience uncontrollable pain or when their dental problem becomes chronic. Dental fear is the main reason children avoided meeting their dentists-this research project aimed to employ 3D Animation to reduce dental anxiety in children between 7 and 9. Presented in a storytelling manner, this Animation is used to attract children besides conveying knowledge and information about dental care and problem. 'GIGI Animation' was developed using various software and hardware types to ensure that this Animation's quality is maintained. The Digital Production approach used in this Animation includes pre-production, production, and post-production phases. The effectiveness of this output was tested to the children, and it was found that 30% of them managed to slightly reduce their dental fear level.