How Can We Reduce Dental Fear in Children? The Importance of the First Dental Visit

Risk Factors Associated with Children's Behavior in Dental Clinics: A Cross-Sectional Study

One of the most crucial tasks of pediatric dentists is to control children's negative behaviors. This study aimed to assess dental behavior and the associated risk factors among children aged 4-12. This cross-sectional study recruited healthy, unaffected children aged 4 to 12 years. Parents were interviewed regarding the sociodemographic details and characteristics of their children's dental visits. Two collaborative dentists examined the children for dental caries (DMFT/DMFT) and behavioral status (Frankl's behavior rating scale). This study included 439 children: 27.3% exhibited uncooperative behavior, and the mean DMFT/dmft was 8.46 ± 3.530. Uncooperative behavior significantly increased when the dental visit was scheduled as an emergency treatment (p = 0.134; Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 1.530) and when there was an elevated DMFT/DMFT ratio (p < 0.001; AOR: 1.308). This study revealed a significant association between children's uncooperative behavior and their first dental visit, emphasizing the need for tailored strategies to address behavioral challenges when scheduling pediatric dental care. The proactive measures included controlling caries and avoiding emergencies.

The effect of aromatherapy with Lavender-Neroli oil and music in management of pediatric dental anxiety: a randomized control trial

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of aromatherapy with Lavender-Neroli essential oil combined with background music in reducing dental anxiety and pain during anesthesia in children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 56 children aged 6-10 years old who needed dental treatment with inferior alveolar nerve injection (IANB) were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1 (Experimental, n = 28) aromatherapy with music group, and Group 2 (Control, n = 28) the placebo group. Children in the group 1 were asked to inhale the aromatic blend of Lavender-Neroli essential oil using a nasal mask similar to one that is used for nitrous oxide after modifying it by adding a 3D printed box on its circle hole and listening to their favorite music as a background before 5 min and during anesthesia, meanwhile in the placebo group children were asked to wear an empty nasal mask. Anxiety and pain were been assessed before and after anesthesia using the self-report anxiety scale Facial image scale (FIS), Observational pain assessment scale Face-Legs-Activity-Cry-Consolability (FLACC), heart rate, SPO2 saturation, diastolic and systolic blood pressure.

RESULTS

Dental anxiety and vital signs except SPO2 saturation were significantly lower in the aromatherapy with music group when compared to the control group (p < 0.05), with no differences in pain perception between groups (p = 0.176).

CONCLUSIONS

Aromatherapy with Lavender-Neroli oil combined with music seems to be a useful and safe non-pharmacologic technique for managing dental anxiety in children.

Canadian dentists' awareness and views on early childhood caries and its prevention and management

Introduction

The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) recommends children visit a dentist within 6 months of the eruption of their first tooth or by 12 months of age. The aim of this study was to investigate Canadian dentists' awareness and views on early childhood caries (ECC) and its prevention and management.

Methods

This study analyzed a subset of questions relating to dentists' knowledge of ECC and prevention strategies, from a national survey of general and pediatric dentists, commissioned by the CDA in 2013. Analyses included descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant.

Results

Three thousand two hundred thirty-two out of 14,747 dentists responded (response rate of 21.9%), with 95.1% having heard of ECC. Overall, 60.9% of respondents reported that they were comfortable providing treatment to children with ECC. Significant differences were found between the number of years in practice and whether dentists were or were not comfortable providing prevention (19.5 ± 12.6 years vs. 25.4 ± 12.1 years; p < 0.001) or treatment for patients with ECC (19.1 ± 12.7 years vs. 22.5 ± 12.3 years; p < 0.001). Pediatric dentists (OR = 6.92; 95% CI: 2.57, 18.61), female dentists (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.24), dentists practicing in smaller urban areas (OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.28), and dentists who were aware of the CDA's position on ECC (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.41) were more likely to be comfortable providing treatment for children with ECC.

Conclusions

While the majority of Canadian dentists have sufficient knowledge of ECC, not all are comfortable providing oral health care services to children at a young age. It is encouraging however, that most dentists are wanting additional oral health resources designed for education on ECC prevention for parents of young children.

Evaluation of Children's Anxiety Level in Relation to a Dental Visit/Treatment and Their Parents' Dental Fear

The patients' fear of the dentist plays an important role in the everyday life of a dentist. The anxiety level of children in relation to dental treatment/visits and to their parents' dental fear was evaluated in three different centers. Assessments of a modified CFSS-DS (mCFSS-DS) were performed by questionnaire with 60 children and their parents. Children's dmft/DMFT scores, age and gender were evaluated in relation to the parents' perception of their child's anxiety levels. For statistical evaluation, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon tests as well as Spearman's correlation coefficient (Spearman) were used. The significance level was set at 0.05. There were no significant differences regarding children's mCFSS-DS between the three centers (p = 0.398, Kruskal-Wallis). The parents' mCFSS-DS scores correlated significantly with their children's mCFSS-DS scores (p = 0.004, Spearman). However, the mean mCFSS-DS score of the children was significantly higher than the mean score of parents' perception of their child's anxiety (p = 0.000, Wilcoxon). The age of the child had an influence on the mCFSS-DS score (p = 0.02, Kruskal-Wallis) but neither the children's gender (p = 0.170, Kruskal-Wallis), nor the dmft/DMFT showed an impact (p < 0.725, Spearman). Although a positive correlation was found between the results of the children's and parents' questionnaire, many parents underestimated the anxiety level of their children.

Dental Fear and Anxiety of Chinese Preschool Children in a School-Based Outreach Service Using Silver Diamine Fluoride for Caries Control: A Cross-Sectional Study

Limited data are available regarding the patient-based outcomes of SDF therapy in the kindergarten setting. This study aims to evaluate the dental fear and anxiety (DFA) of preschool children after participating in a school-based outreach service using SDF to arrest early childhood caries (ECC). The study recruited 3- to 5-year-old children with untreated ECC. A trained dentist performed a dental examination and applied SDF therapy to the carious lesions. ECC experience was measured using the dmft index. Questionnaires for parents were used to collect the children's demographic information and their dental treatment experiences. The children's DFA before and immediately after SDF therapy was assessed using the self-reported Facial Image Scale (FIS) on a Likert scale of 1 (very happy) to 5 (very distressed). The association between the children's DFA after SDF therapy and the potentially related factors, including demographic background, caries experience, and DFA before SDF therapy, were analysed using bivariate analysis. Three hundred and forty children (187 boys, 55%) joined this study. Their mean (SD) age and dmft scores were 4.8 (0.9) and 4.6 (3.6), respectively. Most of them (269/340, 79%) never had a dental visit. After SDF therapy, 86% (294/340) of the children exhibited no or low DFA (FIS ≤ 3), whereas 14% (46/340) reported high DFA (FIS > 3). No factor was associated with children's DFA after SDF therapy (p > 0.05). This study showed most preschool children with ECC exhibited no or low DFA after SDF therapy in a school setting.

Investigate the role of positive and negative memories from dentistry in the anxiety of dental patients in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Several research works show that anxiety is more common in women, low-income classes, and middle-aged and elderly populations. The present study aimed to investigate the role of positive and negative memories in patients' anxiety referred to the dental clinics, offices, and schools of Kerman, Iran, in 2018-2019.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study, the participants were selected among individuals referred to the dental offices, schools, and clinics of Kerman, Iran. In this study, 500 questionnaires were distributed among the participants (based on census method), and of these, 482 of which were reviewed (response rate = 96.4%). The questionnaire used in this study contained four categories of questions, including demographic information, general questions about dentistry, Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale, and Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire. Analysis of variance, t-test, and Chi-square test were used to analyze.

RESULTS

Overall, 281 participants were female, and 201 were male. Based on the findings, dental visits were enjoyable and pleasant experiences for 154 participants, and 165 patients were anxious while the dentist prepared for a restorative treatment. This study showed that people with negative memories had more anxiety. Anxiety was also significantly associated with positive memories, higher education, and gender (female) (P < 0.05). Also, the most negative memories of dental treatments were associated with increased anxiety about dental treatments in adults (P < 0.05), while positive memories did not have a relationship any with decreased anxiety (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The most negative memories of dental treatments were associated with increased anxiety about dental treatments in adults, while positive memories did not have any expected inverse relationship with anxiety.