Dental fear in children: prevalence, etiology and risk factors

t Dentall fear is a multifactorial problem frequentl y encountere d during dental treatment of children.. Studies have indicated that, among others, the behaviour of the dentist may playy a part in the developmen t of this dental fear. The present study was undertaken to examinee the behavioral aspect s of the dentist-patien t relation, and specifi c dentists' behaviorr that can decreas e dental fear. The behavior of forty children referred to a center forr special dental care and of two treating dentist s was assesse d during treatment . T-test resultss showed that the children' s level of fear decrease d after treatment (mean 3.2 vs. 2.1, t=-5.6,, p=.000). In addition, it was found that the dentist s behaved more directive and controllingg during the treatment of highly fearful children than during the treatment of relativelyy less fearful children (p<.034). It seems that this directive approach had a positive,, long-term effect on these children' s fearful behavior during treatment . ii This chapter has been published as: Berge ten M., Veerkamp, J.S.J. , & Hoogstraten , J. (1999).. Dentists' behavior in respons e to child dental fear. ASDC Journal of Dentistry for Children,Children, 66,36-40.

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