Evaluation of Children’s and Adolescents’s Anxiety Previously Dental Treatment: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate levels of anxiety in children and adolescents related to age and experience of visits to the dentist using the modified Venham Picture Test (VPTm). Material and Methods: This is a quantitative cross-sectional study with convenience sample. Children and adolescents of both sexes, subdivided into age groups of 6-9 years (A1 and A2) and 10-13 years (B1 and B2), in the waiting room of a Dental Clinic, were grouped according to the experience of visits to the dentist (have been to the dentist / have never been to the dentist). Descriptive statistics were mean, standard deviation and frequency of cases. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) was used for normality analysis, with 95% significance level. Inferential statistics was performed using the Chi-Square and Mann-Whitney tests, with p<0.05. Results: In total, 60 children and 60 adolescents were evaluated, 65 (54.16%) males and 55 (45.83%) females. No differences were observed between genders in groups A1 and A2 (p=0.30) and B1 and B2 (p=0.94). The highest means of the VPTm scale were observed in groups A2 and B2 (2.87 ± 2.30 and 2.13 ± 1.29) and the lowest in groups A1 and B1 (1.13 ± 1.45 and 1.20 ± 1.29), respectively. Statistical differences were observed for the mean VPTm scores between age groups A1 and A2 (p=0.004) and B1 and B2 (p=0.018). Conclusion: The level of anxiety was inversely proportional to age, so younger children were more anxious; it was also observed that children and adolescents who had never been to the dentist tended to be more anxious.

Moderate and high dental fear by sex and age using the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale

“…Fun activities, games, drawings, and painting materials can be offered in the waiting room to reduce anxiety levels in pediatric patients, 6 aiming to alleviate fear at the time of dental care. 2 In addition, it is important to tighten the bond between the pediatric patient and the dentist through consultations for educational -preventive procedures.…”

“…5 Another aspect that can contribute to a patient's anxiety is the patient -professional relationship because if the child does not feel comfortable or does not trust the dentist, their levels of fear during treatment will probably increase. 6 Dentists are in a unique position to assess patient comfort and educate them about dental anxiety and its coping mechanisms. 5 In addition, they have the ability to identify which fac-tors originate or trigger fear and aim to mitigate them through the implementation of appropriate behavior management techniques.…”