Relations between dental and somatic pain in children.
OBJECTIVE
To study relations between somatic and dental pain complaints among children who attend a university pediatric dental clinic.


METHODS
Forty-seven boys, 32 girls aged 4-13 years (mean age 8.41 +/- 2.29 years) participated in the study. Demographic information was obtained from the parents. Children were asked if they had experienced any dental pain during the previous week, the time of day the dental pain had appeared, and their actions when pain had been felt. Then, children were asked to complete a Pain Rating Scale for subjective evaluation of pain regarding various potentially painful organs.


RESULTS
The majority of the children suffered headaches, stomachaches, and leg pains, regularly. The younger children, aged 4-7 years, significantly reported more ear and stomach pains than the older group, aged 8-13. Significantly, more children who suffered from dental pain also reported more stomachaches. Firstborn and second children had significantly less current dental pain, compared with third children or more.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our study suggest that children with dental pain suffer more often of stomachaches than children without dental pain. This may occur because these children are possibly more anxious about a potential treatment.
Peretz
Benjamin
B
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Sarnat
Haim
H
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D001722:Birth Order / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000523:psychology*; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D014098:Toothache / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology