Children's coping with pain during dental care.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was (i) to assess the coping strategies of 11-year-old children when dealing with pain at the dentist, (ii) to determine the extent to which the level of the children's dental fear and their experience with pain at the dentist are related to their ability to cope and their choice of strategies, and (iii) to analyse the possible differences between subsamples concerning dental caries. METHODS: The coping strategies were investigated using the Dental Cope Questionnaire (n = 597); the level of dental fear was assessed using the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS); a question is asked whether a child had experienced pain at the dentist in the past and dental caries was assessed using the DMFS index. RESULTS: The results show that 11-year olds use a variety of coping strategies. Internal strategies are used most frequently, external coping strategies are used less frequently, and destructive strategies are hardly used. The subjects rate internal and external strategies as effective. Children with pain experience and fearful children use more coping strategies, with fearful children using more internal strategies. Reported pain and anxiety were related to the dental status. CONCLUSIONS: The use and choice of coping strategies seems to be at least partly determined by the level of dental fear and the child's experience with pain.

Author information

Author/s: Versloot, Judith (J); Veerkamp, Jaap S J (JS); Hoogstraten, Johan (J); Martens, Luc C (LC);

Affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Endodontology and Pedodontology, Academic Centre of Dentistry Amsterdam, Louwesweg 1, 1066 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. j.versloot(-atsign-)acta.nl

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Community dentistry and oral epidemiology (Community Dent Oral Epidemiol), published in Denmark. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2004-Dec; vol 32 (issue 6) : pp 456-61

Dates: Created 2004/11/15; Completed 2005/02/01; Revised 2009/01/29;

PMID: 15541161, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: J Evid Based Dent Pract. 2005 Sep;5(3):143-4. (PMID: 17138354)

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