Investigating the Causes of Postponement in Referring to the Dentist and its Relationship with Aanxiety and Behavior of the Child during Treatment in Isfahan

 There are several factors involved in postponement of referral to the dentist, which can affect the child's co-operation during treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons for postponement in referring to dentistry and its effect on anxiety and behavior of the child while working in dentistry.

 In this descriptive-analytical study, 96 children aged 5-10 years old living in Isfahan with more than 12 months delayed were included. Initially, the parents completed the questionnaire to the causes of delay in referring to the dentistry. Then the anxiety and behavior assessment of the child was filled with a Venham questionnaire by a dentist. Data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney, One-way ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis tests using SPSS 22 software. The significance level was less than 0.05.

 The high cost of treatment was the most important factor in postponing and prevention of dental pain was the most important factor in the referral. There was no significant relationship between delay and behavioral scores (p value = 0.523) and anxiety (p value = 0.499), but the results show that increase in delay rates, children show a higher anxiety score and a more negative attitude. There was a significant and reverse correlation between postponement and age of the child (p value = 0.002).

 It seems that the parents consider the most important factor for postponement dental treatment as a high cost of treatment. The higher the delay in referring to the dentist, the more anxiety the child will be during treatment, and the child will show a more inappropriate behavior.