Influence of maternal anxiety on child anxiety during dental care: cross-sectional study

Abstract

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES: Anxiety is usually classified as a disorder of neurotic nature and is often related to contexts of stress, which may include worries, motor tension and autonomic hyperactivity. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of mothers' anxiety on their children's anxiety during dental care. DESIGN AND SETTING: Analytical cross-sectional study conducted at in a private dentistry school in the south of Brazil. METHODS: Convenience sampling was used. All mothers of children undergoing treatment were invited to participate in this study. Data to investigate anxiety related to dental treatment among the children were collected through applying the Venham Picture Test (VPT) scale. For the mothers, the Corah scale was applied. A self-administered sociodemographic questionnaire with questions about demographic, behavioral, oral health and dental service variables was also used. RESULTS: 40 mother-child pairs were included in the study. The results showed that 40% of the children were anxious and 60% of the mothers were slightly anxious. Local anesthesia was the procedure that caused most anxiety among the mothers, making them somewhat uncomfortable and anxious (60%). Family income higher than R$ 1,577.00 had an influence on maternal anxiety (75.6%). Maternal anxiety had an influence on child anxiety (81.3%). CONCLUSION: Most of the children showed the presence of anxiety, which ranged from fear of dental care to panic, inferring that maternal anxiety has an influence on children's anxiety. Dental procedures did not interfere with the mothers' anxiety, but caused positive feelings, whereas they affected the children more. RESUMO

The long‐term effect of previous dental treatment under general anaesthesia on children's dental fear and anxiety

“…Interestingly, certain other reports concluded that dental anxiety increases with age . This could be explained by the possibility of other factors arising, such as children having had more previous painful dental experiences …”

“…Several factors have been reported as contributing factors which influence and affect the level of DFA in children . The age of the child is considered to be one of the factors which has a substantial impact on dental anxiety among children . There is an almost total agreement in the literature that younger children tend to be more anxious in the dental office compared to older children .…”

“…4 The age of the child is considered to be one of the factors which has a substantial impact on dental anxiety among children. 17 There is an almost total agreement in the literature that younger children tend to be more anxious in the dental office compared to older children. [18][19][20] This is believed to result from feelings of the unknown and of abandonment among the younger children.…”

“…25,26 This could be explained by the possibility of other factors arising, such as children having had more previous painful dental experiences. 17 Evidence regarding differences in dental anxiety between boys and girls has been inconsistent, although the majority of investigators have reported higher levels of dental anxiety among girls. [18][19][20]27 On the contrary, certain other studies reported that there were no differences between both genders regarding dental anxiety.…”

Non-pharmacological methods of fighting dental anxiety

“…Effective coping with dental fear is extremely important in both adult and paediatric patients. As researchers suggest, the fact that a woman suffers from dental anxiety might be an important factor in the development of the condition in question in her child [4]. In order to overcome the phobia, a dental professional should choose a method corresponding to the anxiety level [5].…”