Relationship of children's anxiety to their potential dental health behaviour

In this study of 200 New Zealand schoolchildren aged 7-13 years, a questionnaire interview was used to gain information related to estimating dental anxiety and general illness anxiety. Information related to sociodemographic differences, belief differences, and an estimate of potential health behaviour was also collected. Oral examinations were performed and the number of dental restorations present recorded. Dental anxiety was associated with memory of pain during a dental visit. The number of restorations present, and a history of pain during a dental visit, were important predictors of illness anxiety. Neither dental anxiety nor illness anxiety operating alone provided an estimate of future dental health behaviour. Dental anxiety and illness anxiety operated through a complex interplay of variables. A stepwise multiple regression technique was used to determine the possible pathways to potential dental health behaviour. Perceived vulnerability to dental caries and perceived severity of dental disease were important in the prediction of potential denture wearing; school attended and ethnic background were useful predictors of potential extraction seeking; and school grade and level of perceived internal control were predictors of potential preventive visitation.