European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: Children face a moderate to a high degree of stress attached to all kinds of dental treatment resulting in compromised dental treatment. The way children cope with stress has been the focus of psychological and behavioral management research.
Aim: To find a relationship between anxious children to different coping styles that could help the pediatric dentist for planning treatment for the child to aid in effective coping.
Design: The anxiety level of 100 children aged between 8 to 12 years was assessed using a modified child dental anxiety scale (faces). They were then asked to fill up a monitoring-blunting dental tool in which certain dental situations along with their appropriate options were given. Children were asked to answer yes or no to those options. Scores were calculated individually for monitoring and blunting. The highest score was taken as the coping style of that particular child.
Results: A Chi-square test was performed to examine the relationship between the anxiety level and coping strategy and it was found to be non-significant. However, it was seen that children with moderate to high anxiety preferred monitoring coping style than blunting.
Conclusion: Monitoring-Blunting coping style is effective in reducing a child’s dental anxiety.