Relation of maternal dental fear and anxiety with child’s dmft/DMFT

Child’s oral health is believed to be related with maternal dental fear and anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between the demographic status and maternal dental fear and anxiety and its effect on child’s dental caries.

This descriptive and analytical study conducted among 374 mothers which had attended to pediatric department of Tehran University of Medical Sciences for their child’s dental treatments in 2019 were evaluated in the present study. In addition to dental fear survey (DFS) and modified dental anxiety survey (MDAS) questionnaires, demographic information, age, marital status, family income, and educational level of the mother was recorded. Dental visit frequency and previous negative experience were also recorded. DMFT/dmft (decayed, missed, filled teeth) of the children was recorded according to WHO criteria. To assess the relationship between the variables, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were used using SPSS25 software.

The mean age of the mothers was 35.66±15.75. There was no relationship between maternal dental fear and anxiety and children’s dental caries status (P=0.738). There was no relationship between the mothers’ age and dental fear, and anxiety (P=0.943). Previous negative experience and education were related to the dental fear and anxiety (P=0.02).

dmft of the children was not correlated with the maternal dental fear and anxiety. Higher education which was related with less dental fear and anxiety. Previous negative experience is one of the major factors influencing the maternal dental fear and anxiety.