Study participants and study invitation
anxiety
The targeted study population was “pediatric patients with anticipatory anxiety and situational fear.” The baseline CFSS score of the study participants at the trial start ranged from 20 to 53 (mean 33 [SD 9]), which may be considered moderate fear. However, different cut‐off thresholds have been used to differentiate between high or low dental fear. A score of 38 is regarded as high fear, while other thresholds have been assigned to low and moderate fear or anxiety. A Norwegian study relevant to the current trial used a CFSS‐DS score of 29 as a threshold for high anxiety (Raadal et al., A weakness of this trial in terms of the generalizability of the findings is that the study participants were self‐selecting, typical for clinical studies involving assistance animals. Using animal‐assisted therapy is unrealistic for patients who are indifferent to animals and afraid at worst. In the current trial, the study participants knew that they, in any case, would be able to meet the dental therapy dog if not during the first clinical consultation, then in the second.