Behavior of children submitted to tooth extraction: Influence of maternal and child psychosocial characteristics

Abstract

Objective: To assess the child’s behavior during primary tooth extractions, taking into account child’s psychosocial and demographic factors and maternal characteristics. Material and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study involving children aged 7-13 years attending at the dental clinics of the School of Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas. Children who underwent primary tooth extraction under local anesthesia and accompanied by their mothers were included. Data collection consisted of a questionnaire applied to mothers, assessment of child’s behavior (Frankl Scale) and record of the presence of the mother. Data were analyzed using Stata 12.0 software. Descriptive analysis of the variables of interest and the Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were performed to investigate the effect of independent variables on the outcome. The association between independent variables and the outcome was observed by crude and adjusted multivariate analysis by Poisson Regression (prevalence ratio). A 5% significance level was adopted. Results: Of 333 children evaluated, 124 were included in this study. Most were female (54.5%) aged 7-10 years (65.8%). The adjusted multivariate analysis, maternal dental anxiety and presence of the mother were the variables that remained associated with the child's behavior. Conclusion: This study suggests that presence of the mother and maternal dental anxiety negatively affect the behavior of children aged 7-13 years during primary tooth extraction.