December 2012

Volume 29, Issue 4

Child dental anxiety, parental rearing style and referral status of children

Authors: J.B. Krikken A.J. van Wijk J.M. ten Cate J.S.J. Veerkamp
doi: 10.1922/CDH_ 2895Krikken04

Abstract

Objective: Treating children can be difficult for both dentist and child. In some cases treatment fails and those children are referred to a specialist paediatric dentist. Different factors can be put forward for referral of children, such as factors relating to the child, dentist and parent. Possible child-related factors can be dental anxiety and the child’s temperament. A possible parental factor is the parental rearing style. The objective of this study was to assess the possible associations between dental anxiety, parental rearing style and referral status of children. Methods: Parents of 120 non-referred and 335 referred paediatric dental patients were asked to fill out the Child Rearing Practices Report (CRPR) and the Child Fear Survey Schedule Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) on behalf of their children. Results: The questionnaires were filled out by 115 (96%) parents of primary schoolchildren and by 331 (99%) parents of referred children. Referred children were younger than non-referred children, t(442)=6.9, p<0.01, and had significantly more dental anxiety, t(430)=-8.7, p<0.01. No differences existed between parents of referred children and parents of non-referred children on parental rearing-style. No differences existed between fearful and non-fearful children on parental rearing-style and also no correlation existed between children’s dental anxiety and their parent’s rearing style. However, non-referred children with parents using an authoritarian parenting style were more anxious than the other non-referred children. Conclusions: In the present study, referral status and dental anxiety of 4-12 year old children were not associated with parental rearing style. Key words: dental anxiety, child rearing, behavior, referral and consultation, CFSS-DS

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Other articles in this issue

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Editorial - Do we really need another system for recording caries? Thoughts on ICDAS 258-259 Download
Dental Public Health in Action - Maintaining a survey programme during structural change 260-262 Download
Dental health of Irish alcohol/drug abuse treatment centre residents 263-267 Download
Recent trends in incidence and mortality of oral and pharyngeal cancer in Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany 268-273 Download
A description of oral health in three French jails 274-278 Download
Dental erosion among 12 year-old Libyan schoolchildren 279-283 Download
Children’s views on the experience of a visual examination and intra-oral photographs to detect dental caries in epidemiological studies 284-288 Download
Child dental anxiety, parental rearing style and referral status of children 289-292 Download
Caries status in 16 year-olds with varying exposure to water fluoridation in Ireland 293-296 Download
Caries prevalence in 12-year-old Cypriot children 297-301 Download
Cost-effectiveness models for dental caries prevention programmes among Chilean schoolchildren 302-308 Download
Industry structures in private dental markets in Finland 309-314 Download
Letter from America: UK and US state-funded dental provision 315-320 Download

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