Correspondence between dentist and child ratings of dental anxiety in Portugal: A preliminary study

Abstract

The majority of dentists rely on their own judgment and experience to assess dental anxiety in children. It is important, therefore, to investigate the extent to which clinical observations relate to self-reported anxiety levels of children in the dental clinic. The present study included a wide age range of children attending two dental clinics in Portugal and specifically aimed to explore: [1] the extent to which children's self-report and dentist's ratings of the child's anxiety correspond when using the same state dental anxiety picture scale. [2] How far the dentist's ratings of the child's behaviour correspond to their ratings of the child's anxiety on the picture scale. Findings demonstrated that children's self-report anxiety is not associated to either the dentist's rating of them on the same scale, or the dentist's rating of their behaviour. Although preliminary, these results may indicate the need for the dentists to employ formal self-report assessment measures in order to inform them of the child's anxiety status. Future work should further investigate how dentists make an assessment of child anxiety and should employ a sample that includes children referred specifically for anxiety.