Clinical and Individual Variables in Children’s Dental Fear: A School-Based Investigation

Pathways to dental fear from childhood to adolescence: A 10-year cohort study

BACKGROUND

Dental fear affects children's oral health; there is, however, no evidence regarding the pathways linking possible predictors for its occurrence.

AIM

This study aimed at exploring the direct and indirect effects of sociodemographic, clinical, behavioural and psychosocial factors on the development of dental fear in schoolchildren over time.

DESIGN

This is a prospective cohort study, with 10 years of follow-up. The first assessment started in 2010 (T1) with a sample of 639 children aged 1-5 years from Southern Brazil. For this study, the follow-up (T2) of these individuals was performed in 2020. Dental fear was assessed at T2 using the Brazilian version of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). Socio-economic, demographic, psychosocial and oral health measures were collected in both assessments. A structural equation model was performed to assess the direct and indirect pathways among variables at T1 and T2 to predict the CFSS-DS scores at T2.

RESULTS

Of the 639 children, 429 were re-evaluated at T2. Higher levels of untreated dental caries, younger individuals, dental visits for nonroutine reasons and low sense of coherence at T2 directly impacted dental fear at T2. Considering the indirect effects, the presence of dental caries and low household income at T1 indirectly impacted higher levels of dental fear over 10 years via dental caries at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that socio-economic, demographic, clinical, psychosocial and behavioural conditions can influence dental fear from childhood to adolescence.

Do patients with molar incisor hypomineralization have more dental anxiety and behavior management problems? A systematic review with meta-analysis

This systematic review evaluated the available evidence on whether children with molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) have more dental fear and anxiety (DFA) and dental behavior management problems (DBMPs) than those without MIH (Prospero CDR42020203851). Unrestricted searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Lilacs, BBO, Embase, Cochrane Library, APA PsycINFO, Open Grey, and Google Scholar. Observational studies evaluating DFA and/or DBMPs in patients with and without MIH were eligible. Reviews, case reports, interventional studies, and those based on questionnaires to dentists were excluded. The methodological quality assessment was based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to synthesize data on DFA. The certainty of evidence was performed according to GRADE. Seven studies that evaluated a total of 3,805 patients were included. All of them presented methodological issues, mainly in the comparability domain. Most studies observed no significant difference in DFA between children with and without MIH. The meta-analysis did not show a significant effect of MIH on the standardized units for the DFA scores (SMD = 0.03; 95%CI: -0.06-0.12; p = 0.53; I2 = 0%). Synthesis including only the results for severe cases of MIH also did not show a significant effect of the condition on DFA scores (MD = 8.68; 95%CI: -8.64-26.00; p = 0.33; I2 = 93%). Two articles found DBMPs were significantly more frequent in patients with MIH. The overall certainty of evidence was very low for both outcomes assessed. The current evidence suggests no difference in DFA between children with and without MIH; DBMPs are more common in patients with MIH. This information should be viewed with caution because of the very low quality evidence obtained.

Management of Post-Traumatic Dental Care Anxiety in Pediatric Dental Practice-A Clinical Study

BACKGROUND

It is important to avoid giving children traumatic dental experiences that induce post-traumatic dental care anxiety (PTDA) in clinical dental practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether non-pharmacological behavior management procedures can effectively reduce the use of pharmacological behavior management in children who have PTDA and are referred for regular dental treatments under general anesthesia (GA) and sedation.

METHODS

This clinical study consisted of two groups. The treatment group involved 20 healthy children aged 4-14 with PTDA and also those referred by other institutions for dental treatment with/without GA. The control group was sampled retrospectively from the patient records and involved 20 healthy uncooperative children aged 4-14 with PTDA who had been treated under GA.

RESULTS

The number of multiple appointments was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group. Only 25% of children in the treatment group underwent GA and the rest (75%) were managed with non-pharmacological management techniques. Nine (60%) children who were treated with minimally invasive techniques did not require GA.

CONCLUSIONS

It is important to treat children as much as possible without causing PTDA by using appropriate behavior management techniques. This study emphasizes the usefulness of thoroughly employing non-pharmacological behavior management methods before directing a child with PTDA for dental treatment under pharmacological behavior management, which can prevent the over-utilization of sedation and GA.

Utilising dentist-dental health educator skill-mix to implement oral health promotion that better supports diverse communities

Purpose

Dentists may be seen as the most prominent figures within dentistry. Yet, a number of dental care professionals make significant contributions to the profession. The dental health educator (DHE) is one prime example. This teammate is typically a dental nurse who has achieved a post-registration qualification in oral health education (OHE). Through interactions with patients, members of the community and other pertinent stakeholders, the DHE empowers people through promoting the importance of good oral health. The purpose of this paper is to cast light on the unique and invaluable roles that DHEs can play within their organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to share some examples of dentist-DHE collaborations, where OHE initiatives were implemented within an ethnically diverse London Borough in England.

Findings

It was found that such interprofessional, skill-mix efforts were more productive, when the dentist and DHE worked together, rather than the latter working independently.

Originality/value

There exists great potential for DHEs to act as ambassadors for their dental establishments, network and collaborate with other organisations and build worthwhile relations with other healthcare professionals and stakeholders.

The Relationship between Dental Fear and Anxiety, General Anxiety/Fear, Sensory Over-Responsivity, and Oral Health Behaviors and Outcomes: A Conceptual Model

Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is common across the lifespan and represents a barrier to proper oral health behaviors and outcomes. The aim of this study is to present a conceptual model of the relationships between DFA, general anxiety/fear, sensory over-responsivity (SOR), and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes. Two rounds of literature searches were performed using the PubMed database. Included articles examined DFA, general anxiety/fear, SOR, catastrophizing, and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes in typically developing populations across the lifespan. The relationships between the constructs were recorded and organized into a conceptual model. A total of 188 articles were included. The results provided supporting evidence for relationships between DFA and all other constructs included in the model (general anxiety/fear, SOR, poor oral health, irregular dental attendance, dental behavior management problems [DBMP], and need for treatment with pharmacological methods). Additionally, SOR was associated with general anxiety/fear and DBMP; general anxiety/fear was linked to poor oral health, irregular attendance, and DBMP. This model provides a comprehensive view of the relationships between person factors (e.g., general anxiety/fear, SOR, and DFA) and oral health behaviors and outcomes. This is valuable in order to highlight connections between constructs that may be targeted in the development of new interventions to improve oral health behaviors and outcomes as well as the experience of DFA.

Dental Fear and Associated Factors among Children and Adolescents: A School-Based Study in Lithuania

Dental fear is a challenging problem in dentistry and many contributing factors have been identified. Although this problem among children and adolescents has been studied in the literature for a long time, few such studies have been conducted in Lithuania. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dental fear and examine its association with gender, age and several psychological and social factors among children and adolescents in Lithuania. The cross-sectional survey included a randomly selected sample (n = 1590) of children aged 11-14 and adolescents aged 15-18. The data were supplemented by interviewing the parents of these subjects (n = 1399). Dental fear was measured with a single five-score question. The data collection also included questions on oral health, socioeconomic status, oral health-related quality of life and self-esteem. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association between perception of dental fear and potential predictor variables. It was found that 32.2% (95% CI: 29.9-34.4%) of children and adolescents reported no fear of dental treatment, 12.5% (10.8-14.2%) of their peers were highly afraid of dental treatment, and other subjects assessed their dental fear gradually. Girls reported greater dental fear scores than boys, but the level of dental fear did not depend on the age. We identified the groups of subjects by gender and age, and a higher level of dental fear was significantly associated with untreated caries experience, a delay in the age of the subject's first visit to the dentist, low self-esteem, low oral health-related quality of life, low overall life satisfaction and low family affluence. The results also suggested that dental fear could originate from previous toothache, dentists' actions, high sensitivity in the child and poor psychological readiness for treatment. It was concluded that dental fear among Lithuanian children and adolescents is a common problem that is associated with gender and several dental, psychological and social factors. The findings indicate that school-based health policies, paediatric dentists and parents should be encouraged to focus on the psychosocial factors associated with dental fear because most of them can be prevented.

Estimated prevalence of dental fear in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To systematically review the literature about: 'What is the global estimated prevalence of dental fear in adults?'.

DATA/SOURCES

Inclusion criteria were observational population-based studies reporting the prevalence or raw data of dental fear in adults (>18 years). Five electronic databases (Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Virtual Health Library and Web of Science) were searched without language restrictions up to March 2020. Two researchers independently performed the study selection, data extraction and quality assessment of the included studies. Risk of bias was performed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Prevalence and Incidence studies. The prevalence pooled estimates of dental fear were calculated using fixed- and random-effect models. Subgroup analyses were performed.

STUDY SELECTION

The search strategy identified 4,486 studies. After removal of duplicates (1,722), title and abstract screening (2,764) and full-text reading (108), 31 publications were deemed eligible for this systematic review. Three studies presented low risk of bias and 28 studies presented high risk of bias. A total of 72,577 individuals 18 years of age or older composed the sample of this systematic review. The global estimated prevalence of dental fear and anxiety (DFA), high DFA and severe DFA in adults were 15.3 % (95 %CI 10.2-21.2), 12.4 % (95 %CI 9.5-15.6) and 3.3 % (95 %CI 0.9-7.1), respectively. Subgroup analyses showed a higher prevalence of DFA, high DFA and severe DFA among women and younger adults. The instruments used to measure dental fear also affected its prevalence.

CONCLUSIONS

Dental fear and high dental fear are prevalent in adults worldwide, being more prevalent among women.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Evidence suggests fear negatively impacts dental care pattern, clinical and subjective oral health conditions. A better knowledge of the global prevalence and the factors associated with this problem will allow that prevention or even behavior modulation strategies of the fearful individual's in dental setting being carried out.

Prevalence of dental anxiety in children and adolescents globally: A systematic review with meta-analyses

BACKGROUND

Dental anxiety (DA) negatively impacts oral health-related quality of life, and patients with DA usually require more dental treatment time.

AIM

To describe the global prevalence of DA in children and adolescents and to examine the influence of individual factors (age, sex, and caries experience) and variables related to DA measurement on pooled prevalence.

DESIGN

Systematic review with meta-analyses of observational studies published between 1985 and 2020 (PROSPERO CRD42014013879).

RESULTS

Searches yielded 1207 unique records; 224 full-text articles were screened, and 50 studies were used in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. No study was considered as having high methodological quality according to 'The Joanna Briggs Institute assessment tool'. Overall pooled DA prevalence was 23.9% (95% CI 20.4, 27.3). Pooled prevalence in preschoolers, schoolchildren, and adolescents was as follows: 36.5% (95% CI 23.8, 49.2), 25.8% (95% CI 19.5, 32.1), and 13.3% (95% CI 9.5, 17.0), respectively. DA was significantly more prevalent in preschool children (one study) and schoolchildren (two studies) with caries experience and in female adolescents (one study). The scale used for DA assessment was shown to influence pooled prevalence in preschoolers and adolescents.

CONCLUSION

DA is a frequent problem in 3- to 18-year-olds worldwide, more prevalent in schoolchildren and preschool children than in adolescents.

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

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental fear and to evaluate its association with dental caries and molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) in schoolchildren aged 8-10 years from a municipality in Northeastern Brazil. Data from 466 students enrolled in urban public schools in a cross-sectional study were collected. Parents/guardians answered a questionnaire addressing sociodemographic characteristics, dental fear was measured by means of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) and clinical examinations were performed by three calibrated examiners for diagnosis of dental caries, using the International Caries Detection & Assessment System - ICDAS II and a previously validated index for MIH. Descriptive data analysis was performed, and associations between dental fear, dental caries and MIH were analyzed using robust Poisson regression for complex samples (p<0,05). The prevalence of dental fear was 21.6%, and the mean total CFSS-DS score was 29.97 (CI 95%=29.05-30.89). In the multivariate adjusted model, the prevalence of dental fear was associated to family income (PR=1.78; CI 95%=1.02-3.08; p= 0.041). Monthly family income was associated with dental fear in children, whereas dental caries and MIH were not associated with dental fear.

A curriculum for behaviour and oral healthcare management for dentally anxious children-Recommendations from the Children Experiencing Dental Anxiety: Collaboration on Research and Education (CEDACORE)

BACKGROUND

Dentists need training in the management of children's anxiety (DA), fear (DF) and behaviour management problems (DBMP) but little is known of their competence on this topic.

AIM

To report dentists' opinions and attitudes about protective stabilisation and pharmacological techniques for the management of children with DA/DF/DBMP; to propose a postgraduate curriculum focussing on DA/DF/DBMP.

DESIGN

A survey of 301 Brazilian dentists and later a modified Delphi process to outline the curriculum in two phases: (a) face-to-face discussions with 33 early career researchers mentored by six researchers, both from UK and Brazil; (b) online discussions by eight early and senior researchers on the knowledge, experience, and competencies necessary for a specialist in paediatric dentistry in Brazil that should be included in the core curriculum of postgraduate courses.

RESULTS

Almost all (99.0%) of the survey respondents provide treatment to children with DA/DF/DBMP, and 91.2% do not systematically diagnose these conditions; 94.3% use protective stabilisation, and 20.0%-30.0% have training in pharmacological techniques. The four-domain framework supporting the proposed curriculum is as follows: DA/DF/DBMP assessment, non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches, and decision-making.

CONCLUSION

Dental curricula should be customised to solve the misconceptions and promote a comprehensive and positive attitude to DA/DF/DBMP by paediatric oral healthcare practitioners.

The impact of cyberbullying on schoolchildren's dental anxiety in Brazil: A cross-sectional multi-level study

OBJECTIVES

This cross-sectional study assessed the correlation between individual and school-related social environment variables with dental anxiety in Brazilian schoolchildren aged 8-12 years.

METHODS

A sample of children from 20 private and public schools (n = 1211) from Pelotas, Brazil, were selected. Socioeconomic data were collected from parents, and data regarding children characteristics were collected using a questionnaire. Dental anxiety (the outcome) was assessed by the following question: 'Are you afraid of going to the dentist?' Dental examinations were performed to assess caries experience (DMFT ≥ 1). The social school environment was assessed by a questionnaire administered to schools' coordinators and considered: type of school, verbal violence between students, presence of gangs at school and cyberbullying episodes. Multilevel Poisson regression was used to investigate the association between school social environment and dental anxiety.

RESULTS

The prevalence of dental anxiety was 9.1% (95%CI 7.5-10.8). For the individual variables, anxiety was more prevalent in girls [1.85 (1.21-2.81)], in children with less-educated mothers [1.50 (1.00-2.27)] and in children who never attended to the dentist [2.48 (1.65-3.72)]. For contextual variables, episodes of cyberbullying in school increased the prevalence of dental anxiety by almost 80% [1.78 (1.14-2.78)].

CONCLUSIONS

The school social environment influences dental anxiety. The results suggest that it is important to establish strategies focused on promoting healthier environments and preventing cyberbullying in order to reduce the occurrence of dental anxiety.

Use of distraction techniques for the management of anxiety and fear in paediatric dental practice: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether distraction techniques (DT) reduce children's/adolescent's anxiety and fear during dental treatment.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which any type of DT were used to manage dental anxiety and dental fear in children/adolescents were included. A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Lilacs, and Google Scholar was conducted. Two independent reviewers selected studies, extracted data, assessed methodological quality of studies using the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool (CCRBT), and approached certainty of evidence using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation). Data were analysed descriptively.

RESULTS

Twenty studies covering several types of DT (audio, audiovisual, instruments camouflage, biofeedback, dental operating microscope, toys) were included. Qualitative analysis showed with very low certainty of evidence that DT effectively reduced dental anxiety and fear depending on the distraction type, instrument used to measure dental anxiety and dental fear, and dental procedure. CCRBT evaluation identified many methodological issues in included studies.

CONCLUSION

There is a very low certainty of evidence that DT can be effective in managing children's/adolescents' dental fear and anxiety during dental treatment. The heterogeneity of methodologies and findings in the studies, however, suggests more robust, and well-executed RCTs are needed.

Dental anxiety in schoolchildren with molar incisor hypomineralization-A population-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Identifying patients with high levels of DA helps to define the most adequate oral healthcare strategy, especially for pediatric patients.

AIM

To investigate the association between parental reports of dental anxiety (DA) and molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) in schoolchildren.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a representative sample of 731 8-year-old schoolchildren from the city of Curitiba, Brazil, who were clinically examined (k ≥ 0.75) for the diagnosis of MIH and dental caries using the EAPD criteria and dmft/DMFT index, respectively. Parents/guardians reported children's DA using the Dental Anxiety Question (DAQ) and answered a self-administered structured questionnaire addressing socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Associations were evaluated using Poisson regression analysis with robust variance (P < 0.05).

RESULTS

A significant association was found between DA and MIH (PR = 1.20; 95%CI: 1.01-1.42; P = 0.038), but this association lost its significance when adjusted for the other characteristics (PR = 1.13; 95%CI: 0.93-1.38; P = 0.215). Caries experience in primary teeth was associated with lower levels of DA (PR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.71-0.96; P = 0.0013). The most recent visit to the dentist due to pain increased the levels of DA (PR = 1.18; 95%CI: 1.07-1.30; P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of MIH in schoolchildren was not associated with parental reports of DA.

Oral health self-perception, dental caries, and pain: the role of dental fear underlying this association

BACKGROUND

Oral health perception has multidimensional nature and can be influenced not only by clinical conditions but also by psychosocial characteristics.

HYPOTHESIS

Dental fear could modify the association between dental caries and dental pain and the perception of negative impact.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study was conducted with (n = 1,196) children aged 8-12 years attending public and private schools in Pelotas/Brazil. Children were interviewed and examined. Oral health perception was assessed using a global oral health impact item. Crude and adjusted multivariable regression models were built and effect modification of dental fear in the association between clinical indicators and perception of impact was tested.

RESULTS

Compared with children without fear and caries, children with fear and dental caries presented a 1.45 higher prevalence of negative impact (95% CI: 1.18-1.79) while those without fear and with dental caries had a 1.31 higher prevalence (95% CI: 1.11-1.54) after adjustments. Also, the prevalence of negative perception was higher for children with fear and dental pain (PR: 2.95; 95% CI: 1.59-2.39) and for children without fear and with pain (PR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.29-1.80), compared to children without fear and pain.

CONCLUSION

The presence of fear increased the effect of pain and caries on children's oral health perception.