Perception of dental care among children

Abstract

Children that come to dental offices with fear and anxiety usually tend to resist conditioning mechanisms. Aim: To evaluate children's perception of dental treatment and to identify the factors influencing this perception. Methods: For this study, we selected a random sample of 100 children of both genders aged 3 to 12, treated at the Department of Dentistry of a University (Group I) and at a Children's Hospital (Group II). A structured questionnaire about the child's perception about dental care was applied and the children were asked to draw a picture of this topic. Results: Most children expressed a positive perception in the questionnaire and in the drawings (93.8%). This positive perception was more accentuated in Group I (94%) and in children aged 3 to 5 years (100%), particularly in girls (78%). The main cause of fear was the use of needles (42.4%). Many children (24.2%) reported to prefer the noninvasive procedures. Conclusions: A positive perception of dental treatment was observed in most children. Therefore, dental pediatricians must be aware of the children's perception for establishing a better conditioning.

O uso de desenhos como técnica projetiva em odontopediatria

“…Gomes et al 37 , constataram que crianças que chegam ao consultório odontológico com medo e ansiedade geralmente tendem a resistir aos mecanismos de condicionamento 37 . Dessa maneira, eles avaliaram a percepção das crianças sobre o tratamento odontológico e identificaram os fatores que influenciam tal percepção.…”

“…Observou-se uma percepção positiva do tratamento odontológico na maioria das crianças. Em suma, o odontopediatra deve estar ciente da percepção das crianças para estabelecer um melhor condicionamento do paciente 37 .…”

“…Para tanto, os questionários são ferramentas úteis para avaliar a percepção da criança sobre o tratamento odontológico pelo profissional que, rotineiramente, utiliza exclusivamente as informações verbais fornecidas pelos pacientes. Os desenhos também são uma excelente opção, pois não requerem respostas diretas e ajudam a expressar sentimentos que a criança não tem conhecimento, ou é incapaz de expressar verbalmente 37 .…”

Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the “Child Drawing: Hospital” (CD:H) Scale for Paediatric Dentistry in Brazil

“…In Paediatric dentistry, drawings are a valuable tool to better understand children's emotions and expectations about the dental environment [6]. It has been effective in identifying the presence of stress and dental anxiety during dental treatment [7], the occurrence of negative dental experiences during dental care [6], as well as the perception in relation to the professional and the dental environment [2,6,8,9].…”