The influence of clinical and psychosocial characteristics on children behaviour during sequential dental visits: a longitudinal prospective assessment.

Abstract

This is the first study to adopt a multilevel approach to assess the impact of the order of dental visits on child's behaviour. The aim was to investigate which factors directly interfere with child's behaviour regardless of the order of sequential dental visits. In this prospective longitudinal study, children aged 7-12years were invited to participate. Child behaviour was assessed using the Frankl Scale during four sequential dental visits. Chi-square test was used to analyse the effect of dental fear on children's non-cooperative behaviour according to the presence of dental fear. Multilevel mixed logistic regression model was used to assess the association between predictor variables and the outcome (child behaviour) during the sequential dental visits. Overall, 111 children participated in this study. Maternal dental anxiety, dental pain and complexity of the treatment were associated with the non-cooperative behaviour in children aged 7-12years. When stratified by dental fear, the complexity of the treatment remained associated with non-cooperative behaviour. The results provide evidence that, even with the familiarization of child with the dental environment, maternal dental anxiety, dental pain in the last month, and the complexity of dental treatment negatively affect the children's behaviour aged 7-12years.