THE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL ANXIETY AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON DENTAL ANXIETY IN CHILDREN

Background: the aim of this study was to determine the effects of parental anxiety and the sociodemographic factors on the dental anxiety of the children. material and methods: one hundred and ninetyeight children (aged 3-12 years) applied to the department of pediatric dentistry at the ondokuz mayıs university faculty of dentistry participated in the study. the children were classified into two groups: 3-6 years (groups 1, n=84) and 7-12 years (group 2, n=114). the study consisted of two sections. the sociodemographic informations of the participants including age and gender of children, education level and economic status of the parents were recorded in the first section. in the second section, the level of dental anxiety of children and parents were determined. venham picture test and frankl’s behavioral scale were used in group i, children’s fear survey schedule-dental subscale and frankl’s behavioral scale were used in group ii, dental anxiety scale was also used in parents. results: dental anxiety was higher among 3-6 year old children (group 1) than among 7-12 year old children (group 2). no significant differences were found between the gender of children, economic status of parents and the anxiety scores in group 1 and 2 (p>0.05). also, there was no statistically significant correlation between the anxiety level of the mother and that of their child (p>0.05). conclusion: it is concluded children could be able to cope with potentially dental anxiety with advancing age. also, the children's dental anxiety is not influenced by of maternal dental anxiety.