Dental avoidance is a high risk factor for development of odontophobia and poor oral health including premature tooth extraction in children.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the connection between the dental fear and premature tooth loss. Subject of monitoring of the clinical research were 140 school children with mixed dentition. The clinical group consists of 90 children with prematurely extracted teeth. The patients from the clinical group were divided into three groups of 30 patients. The control group consists of 50 children with intact denture. А special questionnaire was filled from the parents of the examined children about the dental fear of their children, whether there is such a fear or not. The results show that while in the control group the majority of children are not afraid of dental treatment - 79,2%, then in groups surveyed more than half of the children said they are afraid of dental treatment, especially the third group - 57,7%. Conclusion: The children with prematurely extracted teeth have a higher level of dental anxiety due to which they are with poor dental health and early tooth loss. The use of behavioural techniques are recommended in order to improve their oral health.
Smith TA, Heaton LJ. Fear of dental care: are we making any progress?. J Am Dent Assoc. 2003;134(8):1101-1108.
Folayan MO, Idehen EE, Ojo OO. The modulating effect of culture on the expression of dental anxiety in children: a literature review. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2004;14(4):241-245.
Armfield JM, Spencer AJ, Stewart JF. Dental fear in Australia: Who's afraid of the dentist?. Aust Dent J. 2006;51(1):78-85.
Schuller AA, Willumsen T, Holst D. Are there differences in oral health and oral health behavior between individuals with high and low dental fear?. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31(2):116-121.
Sohn W, Ismail AI. Regular dental visits and dental anxiety in an adult dentate population. J Am Dent Assoc. 2005;136(1):58-66.
Abrahamsson KH, Berggren U, Hallberg L, Carlsson SG. Dental phobic patients' view of dental anxiety and experiences in dental care: a qualitative study. Scand J Caring Sci. 2002;16(2):188-196.
Folayan MO, Idehen E. Factors influencing the use of behavioral management techniques during child management by dentists. J Clin Pediatr Dent. 2004;28(2):155-161.
Locker D. Psychosocial consequences of dental fear and anxiety. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31(2):144-151.
Moore R, Brodsgaard I, Rosenberg N. The contribution of embarrassment to phobic dental anxiety: a qualitative research study. BMC Psychiatry. 2004;4(1):10-14.
Frankel MR, Frankel LR. Some recent developments in sample survey design. J Market Res. 1977;14:280-293.
Neverlien PO. Assessment of a single-item dental anxiety question. Acta Odontol Scand. 1990;48(6):365-369.
