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[Anxious children. Evaluation after treatment at a special dental care center]
L M Zwarts1, J S Veerkamp, K L Weerheijm
1Afdeling Cariologie Endodontologie Pedodontologie, Academisch Centrum Tandheelkunde Amsterdam (ACTA), Louwesweg 1, 1066 EA Amsterdam.
Objective:
Evaluation of dental behaviour of anxious children after treatment at a Special Dental Care Centre.
Design:
Retrospective, descriptive study.
Setting:
Dutch Special Dental Care Centre (SBT).
Methods:
A representative sample of parents was interviewed 1-2 years after their child's treatment at the centre about their present behaviour with respect to the home dentist.
Results:
Results were analyzed using Analysis of Variance. Results indicate that within 1-2 years more than 90% of the children visited a home dentist, 80% of them had to be treated curatively and 60% of the treatment was performed using local anaesthesia. Retrospectively, the parents report a decrease of their child's dental anxiety, when leaving the SBT. The level of anxiety is unchanged after 1-2 years visiting a home dentist. For the children there was a significant relation between dental anxiety as reported by the parents and not visiting a home dentist. The high prevalence of curative treatment might indicate that children in this group belong to a caries risk group and might need extra preventive attention.
Conclusions:
After the initial treatment at the special dental care centre most children return to their home dentist. The children in this group referred for dental anxiety, belong to a caries risk group and might need extra preventive attention.