INTRODUCTION
multiple difficulties, RCDSO, anxiety
Many children show signs and symptoms of anticipatory anxiety and situational fear while receiving oral health care. Prevalence estimates range between 10% and 30%, depending on the study population and the tool used to measure anxiety and fear (Asl et al., The adjunctive use of pharmacological interventions has therefore increased. Individualized clinical circumstances determine whether minimal, moderate, deep sedation or general anesthesia is the optimal choice. However, all forms of sedation comprise latent, albeit small, risks to the patient, and anesthetic gases also present a potential hazard for the clinic staff. Therefore, specialist training and certification are required, along with compulsory equipment on‐site in emergencies (RCDSO, Many patients will benefit from receiving operative interventions in general anesthesia given circumstances. However, it has been claimed that undergoing general anesthesia in the dental operatory does not empower apprehensive patients to overcome their anxiety and fear, which predisposes them to future poor oral health and distress (Haworth et al., Although much of the substantial endorsement of animal‐assisted therapy is anecdotal, there is a rationale to explore the claims scientifically. However, multiple difficulties abound when attempting to design methodologically sound clinical studies to study the anxiety‐reducing effects of therapy dogs in healthcare settings (Rodriguez et al., Considering the absence of evidence on dog‐assisted dental therapy in children, we aimed to appraise whether the presence of a certified therapy dog team specially trained for working in an oral health care setting, would facilitate a first‐time clinical examination of referred pediatric patients with anticipatory anxiety and situational fear.