Dental fear and anxiety among children and their caregivers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9771/cmbio.v13i2.10113Palavras-chave:
Dental Anxiety, Fear, Child, Questionnaires, CaregiversResumo
Introduction: Dental treatment is an experience that elicits fear and anxiety in most people, and particularly in children. This fear is the first step to be overcome in the search for a satisfactory dentist-patient relationship. Aim: of this research was to assess fear and anxiety among children and their caregivers when faced with dental treatment and identify the main reasons behind these behaviors. Methodology: About 200 questionnaires consisting of nine multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question, to obtain additional information, were administered to male and female patients aged 4 to 13 years who were treated at a university pediatric dentistry clinic and to their respective caregivers. Results: show only one-third of children reported fear of the dentist. Pain, needles, and anesthesia were the main reasons behind their feelings of fear. Over 70% of interviewed children reported having experienced tooth pain at least once, which reinforces the importance of painful experiences as being associated with dental fear in a portion of these patients. Conclusion: that although dental fear was uncommon among caregivers, approximately one-third of children reported fear of the dentist, associated with perceived pain or needle phobia.
Downloads
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
A Revista de Ciências Médicas e Biológicas reserva-se todos os direitos autorais dos trabalhos publicados, inclusive de tradução, permitindo, entretanto, a sua posterior reprodução como transcrição, com a devida citação de fonte. O periódico tem acesso livre e gratuito.