Abstract
Purpose
To assess children’s perception of pain during routine dental procedures and associated factors.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was performed including 192 children aged 6–13 years, who visited a university paediatric dental clinic. Mothers were interviewed to obtain information about demographic and socioeconomic data, and psychosocial characteristics. During dental treatment, children’s behaviour was assessed using Frankl’s Behaviour Scale. Dental procedures were recorded according to complexity of treatment from dental records. Immediately after the dental procedure, perception of pain was assessed using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association between potential predictor variables and perception of pain (P < 0.05 was considered significant).
Results
Overall, the mean pain score was 1.5 (SD 2.4). Higher levels of pain were reported by children who demonstrated non-cooperative behaviour during the treatment (RR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.23–4.64), who were administered local analgesia (RR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.31–4.27), and who reported dental pain during the previous 4 weeks (RR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.04–2.47).
Conclusion
Perception of pain may be influenced by pre-operative pain and use of local analgesia, and is associated with non-cooperative behaviour during treatment.
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All procedures performed were in accordance and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards and ethical approval was obtained from The Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Pelotas (Protocol number 29/2013).
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Mathias, F.B., Cademartori, M.G. & Goettems, M.L. Factors associated with children’s perception of pain following dental treatment. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 21, 137–143 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00456-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-019-00456-2