Short communication: preferences of dentist's attire in a group of Istanbul school children related with dental anxiety.

Kuscu Ö. Ö., Caglar E., Kayabasoglu N., Sandalli N.

European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry, cilt.10, sa.1, ss.38-41, 2009 (Scopus)

Özet

AIM: This was to assess children's preferences for each of four different kinds of dental attire and to consider the relationship between children's preferences and levels of dental anxiety. METHODS: A group of 827 children aged 9-14 years looked at anonymised photographs and were asked to say which of four dental attires they would prefer their dentists to wear "if they had been to a dental clinic". Children's Fear Survey Schedule - Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) was used to evaluate the children's anxiety level. RESULTS: Formal attire was the first preference for 45.6 % of the children (n: 377), followed by the child-friendly attire with a preference of 30.5% (n:144). There were 350 children (42.3%) who were diagnosed as anxious (CFSS-DS > or = 32) and 477 children (57.7%) were diagnosed as non-anxious (CFSS-DS <32). Anxious children were found to prefer the formal attire significantly less than non-anxious ones (p=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The popular view that children are fearful of white coats was not found in this survey. More children were observed to prefer the formal attire. However, the concept of "child-friendly" attire might be more appropriate for anxious children and enhance an easy first communication with them.