Investigating Behavioral Changes of Fear and Anxiety in Children under General Anesthesia in Dentistry

Fear and anxiety of dental treatment in children could cause behavioral changes. In addition, dental pain and discomfort could lead to behavioral disorders in children. Treatments under general anesthesia might decrease behavioral disorders due to an improvement in the child’s medical condition. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the mean scores of fear and anxiety based on the standard behavioral change questionnaire before and after dental treatment under general anesthesia. Materials &

This descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated children who underwent dental treatment under general anesthesia. Seventy-eight behavioral change questionnaires, consisting of 22 items, were distributed among the children’s mothers. The questionnaires were completed once just before general anesthesia and once a month after general anesthesia by the mothers in order to obtain the mean score of behavioral changes. Data were analyzed with t-test, one-way ANOVA and paired ttest (α = 0.05).

Based on statistical data, in all the cases the scores of behavioral problems after general anesthesia were better than those before general anesthesia. In addition, there was a significant relation between the number of the dental procedures and the mean score of behavioral changes, indicating an improvement in behavior with an increase in the number of dental procedures.

Implementation of all the dental procedures for children under general anesthesia improves their behavioral conditions, presumably due to an improvement in their dental condition.