Ansiedade dentária em crianças

: a importância da sua gestão na consulta de odontopediatria

Abstract

The management of dental anxiety in children during the appointments of Pediatric Dentistry is essential to the further success of dental treatments. Thus, we intend to assess levels of anxiety expressed by children during dental treatments and, simultaneously, assess the degree of pain described in the same clinical context, in order to relate them directly with previous experiences and other etiologic factors of interest, including age, gender, parental anxiety and socioeconomic status, and finally, deliberate the effect of these factors on children's oral health. The study is conducted in a population of children from 8 to 14 years, who attending the Pediatric Dentistry appointments of Dental Clinic University in Viseu, applying a questionnaire that uses two self-report scales to measure anxiety and pain, respectively, the Faces Version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale and the Wong - Baker Faces Pain Scale. In addition to these scales, we address issues relating to oral hygiene habits and we ascertain the state of oral health by the CPOD or cpod Index (Carious, Missing and Filled Teeth), depending whether it is permanent or deciduous teeth. Overall, 76% of the sample shows slight anxiety, however children between 8 and 11 years have a higher level of anxiety compared to those aged over 12 years. It was shown the impact of previous negative experiences in subsequent appointments, U = 192.000, p <0.001, in addition to increased susceptibility to pain, rs = 0.545, p <0.01. The injection of local anesthesia has been shown responsible for 90% of anxiety and pain symptoms in children. Anxious and uncooperative behaviour in the Pediatric Dentistry appointments are dependent on early ages, the previous dental experiences and the pain threshold of each child, and the more invasive dental procedures are associated with higher expression of anxiety and pain.

Date of Award	30 Jul 2014
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Andreia Sofia de Paiva Figueiredo (Supervisor) & Nélio Jorge Veiga (Co-Supervisor)