Children's behavior during dental examinations is known to be affected by many factors, including age, previous experiences, anxiety and fear and others. This investigation demonstrates that it is also associated with their reactions to various sensory stimuli.

Purpose: Dental student’s dental anxiety may negatively affect patient’s attitude towards dental treatment. We evaluated dental anxiety among dental students in different clinical stage of their studies. We assessed the student’s anxiety prior to treating patients. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Fourth to sixth-year dental students completed questionnaires containing: 1) Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS); 2) Dental Fear Survey (DFS); and 3) visual analogue scale questions relating to the student’s anxiety when performing dental treatments in children and adults. Results: 124 dental students completed the questionnaires (mean age, 26.4±3.1 years, 59.7% women). Average DAS in the study population was 7.55±2.15 with similar scores observed across the years. Average DFS score was highest among fourth-year students (1.62±0.65) and lowest among sixth year students (1.36±0.32). DFS scores decreased as the students progressed through the clinical years (p=0.059). The students’ average anxiety scores prior to treating children were significantly higher than the anxiety scores prior to treating adults (3.82±2.42 vs. 2.67±1.9, p<0.001). Fifth-year students had significantly higher anxiety scores prior to treating children and adults compared to fourth and sixth-year students. Conclusion: Dental anxiety among dental students is relatively low and decreases gradually as they progress through the clinical years. Anxiety prior to treating patients, particularly children, is at its highest just before starting to treat patients for the first time. As dental students are future healthcare providers, it is important that they learn techniques to help them manage their own dental anxiety and fear as well as deal with anxiety related to treating patients.

Caries development in children is a prevalent childhood disease. Factors affecting chronic teeth lesions include nutrition, parental involvement, and executing proper dental health attitude. Professional dentists are perceived as role models for the oral health and hygiene of their families. The purposes of the research were 1. To compare caries rates in the children of pediatric dentists and children of general dentists. 2. To compare children’s nutrition habits between pediatric dentists and general dentists. 3. To compare children’s oral health and hygiene between pediatric dentists and general dentists. 4. To compare children’s usage of fluoride-containing products between pediatric dentists and general dentists. A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing self-reporting questionnaires to pediatric dentists and general dentists via the social media “snowball” platform. The following themes were surveyed: nutrition habits and oral hygiene of the children. The sample consisted of 176 participants. Children of pediatric dentists were found to have fewer cases of caries than children of general dentists (p = 0.018). Nutrition habits did not differ between the two groups. In addition, pediatric dentists reported that their children use more fluoridated toothpaste in comparison with general dentists. Professional training of pediatric dentists contributed to shaping the oral hygiene attitude of their children.