Children’s anxiety, family and oral health professionals: experiences in dentistry

Abstract

Anxiety can strongly influence children or their way of relating to health professionals during dental care and may be related to several factors, such as previous experiences and the anxiety of the parents themselves. Anxiety and fear are among the main elements that make dental treatment difficult, and may present several associated conditions, such as the child's cultural origin, as well as the dentist's actions and family anxiety. The present study aimed to reflect, through a theoretical essay, on the main factors related to children's anxiety in relation to dental environment, and also to help in the professional-patient-family relationship. In this reflection, which starts on the notions of experiences in Nietzsche and events in Jacques Derrida, we seek to articulate these concepts with discussion and recommendations found in the literature in the field of Dentistry. The debate raised seemed to contribute with elements for the understanding of subjectivity and health care with regard to anxiety, as well as childhood fear, in pediatric dental care.