General anxiety, dental anxiety, digit sucking, caries and oral hygiene status of children resident in a semi-urban population in Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundDigit sucking can represent untreated anxiety or other emotional problems. The aim of this study was to determine if digit sucking is a predictor of general anxiety and dental anxiety; and if general and dental anxiety are associated with caries and oral hygiene status of children resident in sub-urban Nigeria.MethodsThis was a secondary data analysis of a household survey conducted in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The level of general anxiety and dental anxiety of 450 6 to12 year old children were measured using the Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale and Dental Subscale of the Child Fear Survey Schedule respectively. Presence of digit sucking habit, caries and oral hygiene status were determined. General anxiety and dental anxiety scores were dichotomized into low and high levels respectively. Logistic regression was conducted to determine if digit sucking was a predictor of general anxiety and dental anxiety; and if general anxiety and dental anxiety were predictors caries and good oral hygiene status. Adjustments were made for age and sex.ResultsDigit sucking is not a significant predictor of dental anxiety (p = 0.99) and general anxiety (p = 0.79). Children with high general anxiety (AOR: 5.02; 95% CI: 2.9–9.74; p < 0.001) and high dental anxiety (AOR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.15–2.65; p = 0.009) had higher odds of having caries and good oral hygiene respectively.ConclusionDigit sucking was not a significant predictor of general anxiety and dental anxiety. General and dental anxiety however, had effects on the likelihood of having caries and good oral hygiene.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12903-018-0529-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Dental Fear in Children: Association with Dental Caries and Molar Incisor Hypomineralization

“…The relationship between dental fear and dental caries is controversial (4)(5)(6)8). Children with dental fear have worse oral health conditions (5) because poor oral health increases the likelihood of dental pain, or can result in a negative dental experience (7), which can reinforce the occurrence of dental fear (5).…”

“…Dental fear is multifactorial (1) and can be triggered by pain experience (2,5), dental caries (6), negative experiences during dental treatment (7), socioeconomic, psychological (8) and cultural aspects, as well as by the profile of visits to dental services and previous visits to the dentist (5,8). In children with molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH), the risk of developing fear, anxiety and behavioral problems may be increased (9,10), because MIH is associated with many dental problems such as dentin hypersensitivity, rapid development of carious lesions and need for recurrent dental treatment (9,10), as well as dental pain (10,11) and difficulties in obtaining adequate anesthesia (9).…”

Medo odontológico e cárie dentária em crianças: uma revisão crítica da literatura

“…As pesquisas transversais se configuraram no desenho de estudo mais utilizado (1,8,9,12,14,(16)(17)(18)(20)(21)(22)(23)(25)(26)(27)29,30,(32)(33)(34)(35). Esse tipo de estudo possibilita determinar o perfil da doença ou condição, fornece informações que determinarão o planejamento de serviços de saúde e são úteis para gerar hipóteses que podem ser confirmadas por meio de desenhos de estudo mais rigorosos, além de serem menos onerosos e mais rápidos (41).…”

“…Deve-se estimular a realização de pesquisas que podem inferir sobre a relação de causa-efeito entre o medo odontológico e a cárie dentária, pois a identificação de fatores de risco pode ajudar na definição de estratégias mais apropriadas. O medo odontológico pode ser mensurado através da utilização de vários métodos e, nesse estudo, o questionário mais utilizado foi o Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (1,8,9,18,21,22,(33)(34)(35)(36), com os respondentes sendo as próprias crianças. O CFSS-DS é um instrumento largamente utilizado, para medir o medo odontológico em crianças (10), tendo sido validado em países como Holanda (42), Finlândia (43), Japão (44), Grécia (45), China (46), Índia (47) e Brasil (6), entre outros.…”

“…Nesta revisão, observou-se que crianças com maior experiência de cárie dentária possuem níveis mais elevados de medo (1,(12)(13)(14)(16)(17)(18)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)26,28,30,31,(34)(35)(36). Entretanto, essa associação ainda é controversa na literatura, visto que alguns estudos não encontraram tal relação (8,15,19,25,27,29,33).…”