The relationship between dental fear and cooperation of children during dental treatments with their parents’ general health

Abstract

Objective: Dental fear is a common phenomenon in children and parents can have a key role in the development of child s dental anxiety. There is moderate evidence to support the relationship between the parental general health and children’s dental fear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dental fear and cooperation of children during dental treatment with the general health of parents. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done on 130 children aged 6 to 12 at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Guilan University of Medical Sciences from May to September 2020.The personality traits and general health of parents were assessed by using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The Frankl s behavior rating scale and Children s Fear Survey Schedule Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) were used to respectively assess the degree of cooperation during dental practices and children’s dental fear. Statistical approaches included T-test, Chi-square and Pearson Linear correlation. A significant level of differences was taken as P<0.05. Results: 69.3 % of children behaved positively and definitely positively during dental treatment. 56 boys and 74 girls with mean age of 9.13 ±2.02 years participated in this study. There was a significant correlation between the children s age with dental fear and cooperation level (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in dental fear score (P=0.63) and cooperation level (P=0.99) between boys and girls. There was not statistically significant relationship between the general health of the parents and the level of children s cooperation and dental fear during dental treatment (P>0.001). Conclusion: There was not relationship between parent s general health with children s dental fear and cooperation.