Dental Anxiety In Children

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Introduction. Behavior management is new to dentistry; it is used in practices to guide the child’s behavior while getting treatment done. A dental visit should always be as pleasant as possible. The experience of a dental office “is no different than the playground”(Jensen, 2015). Since each child is different, a variety of methods need to be used to control the child behavior that can happen due to anxiety. Dental anxiety is a problem to pediatric dentistry because it interferes with the optimal dental care a child should receive “ dental anxiety and fear are the source of serious health problems in children” (Bektasevic, Kos-Dragivevic, & Markovic Duric, 2015). Thus, we will discuss what is dental anxiety, the different behavior managements available for a child, and the opposing view to behavior management.
Dental Anxiety …show more content…

Dental anxiety is the fear children develop after going to the dentist and experiencing a terrible experience that causes the child to fear going back to any dental office. It can be seen as emotional behavior and a real threat to the child. It is the way the child perceives dental treatment into danger and risk. Anxiety of dental is stronger than fear. It is acquired at an early age, and if not controlled it can progress into adult hood. The main causes are “ dental experiences, lack of dental awareness, dental trauma, parental anxiety and influence by the environment or the media” (Bektasevic,Kos-Dragivevic, & Markovic Duric,2015). Some of the signs of dental anxiety in a child include: nervousness in the waiting area at the dental office, trouble sleeping before a dental exam, emotional break down when going to the dentist, the thought of the dentist makes them feel physically ill, anxiety attacks, increase heart rate, heavy breathing and

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