Childhood fear and anxiety states in relation to dental treatment.
Five years experience by the authors in organizing a dental psychology clinic has impressed on them that many excessively fearful child patients have a history of untoward dental and medical experiences which might have been prevented. A background to an understanding of fear and anxiety in children is presented, and two cases are described to illustrate straight-forward behavior modification techniques which can be used to help the fearful or excessively anxious child cope with dental treatment.
D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003729:Dental Care; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012801:Sibling Relations