title: Relationship between children's first dental visit and their dental anxiety in the Veneto Region of Italy.
abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the association between negative experiences during children's first dental visit and any subsequent dental anxiety and related factors in three dental clinics in the Veneto Region of Italy. For this purpose, parents of 378 children filled out a questionnaire. Factors related to child dental anxiety (none-some/fairly much-very much) were explored by means of logistic regression analysis. The independent variables were: problems with tht first dental visit (no/yes), parental dental anxiety (none-some/fairly much-very much), number of previous visits (0-3/4 < or =) site visited (public/private) and age of the child (< 10 years/10 < or = years). Parental anxiety was associated with child's anxiety (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.1-4.9). A problematic first visit was a strong predictor of dental anxiety. However, this effect was modified by the number of subsequent visits. Children with 4 or more visits after the first visit were less likely to be anxious after a problematic first visit (OR = 4.6, 95% CI = 1.5-14.1) than children with 3 visits or less after the first visit (OR = 19.8, 95% CI = 7.2-54.5). Thus, the negative effect of a problematic first visit may fade during subsequent dental visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, University of Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rantavuori
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zerman
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: Satu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lahti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003448:Crying; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D016015:Logistic Models; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011331:Private Practice; D011636:Public Health Dentistry; D012423:Rural Health; D014504:Urban Health