Prevalência e fatores associados ao medo odontológico em crianças escolares de 8 a 12 anos de idade

Abstract

Dental fear is a common problem and an important challenge for many clinicians. It is thus of importance to know more about dental fear occurrence among schoolchildren and factors associated with this fear to prevent this condition and improve the quality of dental treatments. This cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of dental fear and associated factors in schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years old. Schoolchildren enrolled in 20 public and private schools in a Brazilian southern city were selected using a multi-stage sample design. Sociodemographic characteristics, children dental visit and oral hygiene habits were assessed by questionnaires applied to parents and children. The Dental Anxiety Question was used to measure dental fear prevalence. Participants who responded „a little?, „yes, quite? and „yes, much? were considered to have dental fear. Children?s clinical examination was conducted evaluating the presence of dental caries (DMFT/dmft index) and gingival bleeding. Data were analyzed using Poisson regression with robust variance [prevalence ratio (PR); 95% confidence interval (CI)]. Results: A total of 1202 children were included. Dental fear prevalence was 24.6%. After the adjustment, girls [PR= 1.71 (CI95%: 1.31-2.22)], children from poorer families [PR=1.96 (CI95%: 1.36 – 2.83)], those who had decayed (D/d index>0) [PR=1.32 (CI95%: 1.01–1.72), and who had never gone to the dentist [PR=1.85 (CI95%: 1.42 – 2.41) remained significantly associated with dental fear. The prevalence of dental fear found in this study indicates that it is a common problem encountered among schoolchildren. Early dental care and dental caries prevention are important factors to prevent dental fear, especially among girls and children from poor families .