Dental Fear and Anxiety in Children: a Review of the Environmental Factors

Abstract

Dental fear and anxiety are psychological reactions that interfere significantly with daily life. They are problems suffered by many patients worldwide that remain a significant challenge to providing adequate dental care. The multifactorial etiology of children’s dental fear and anxiety identifies the influence of many different risk factors in its development. The aim of this review article is to analyse the scientific literature regarding the different factors associated with dental fear and anxiety in children. Our review of the literature presents a critical analysis of the contributing factors in dental environment that have been investigated in the literature and provides an insight into the possible explanations on the influence of these factors in pediatric patients. Being familiar with these factors would facilitate behaviour management in anxious children. The findings of the literature review give grounds to undertake studies investigating the influence of contributing factors in all pediatric age subgroups.