Dental anxiety amongst paediatric cardiology patients

Background: The dental health of paediatric cardiology patients has been shown to be poorer than that of healthy children. Multiple factors could be implicated with dental anxiety potentially playing a major role. However, there is no published research specifically looking at dental anxiety amongst paediatric cardiology patients.

Aims: The primary aim was to determine whether there was a difference in the level of dental anxiety between paediatric cardiology patients and a group of healthy children. The secondary aim was to establish whether dental anxiety was affected by previous medical history as measured by number of overnight hospital admissions, number of general anaesthetics and cardiac complexity category.

Materials and Methods: Fifty-four participants were recruited into the study group from the outpatient cardiology clinic at Leeds General Infirmary. The control group comprised 53 children who attended consultant-led new patient orthodontic clinics. All participants were aged 8-16 years old. The children completed the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (faces version) and their parents completed the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale along with a questionnaire regarding their child‟s medical and dental histories.

Results: The mean level of dental anxiety was significantly higher in the study group (p<0.05). Other significant findings between the two groups related to socio-economic status, exodontia experience, overnight hospital admissions and general anaesthetic history. Analysis of covariance indicated that only the admission history might have had an effect upon child dental anxiety in this study.

Conclusion: Paediatric cardiology patients had significantly increased levels of dental anxiety. It is likely that aspects of their medical history, notably overnight hospital admissions, are moderating factors but due to the multifactorial aetiology of dental anxiety, further research is required in order to identify specific factors involved.