RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Dental anxiety is an important factor in influencing patients' decisions to access treatment. It is crucial dental care professionals understand its causative factors in order to prevent and manage it, particularly as dentally anxious patients often have poor oral health. This report is of an elective study that tried to ascertain whether children with signs of dental neglect suffered greater dental anxiety, as existing research suggests that anxiety can stem from previous experiences. METHOD: 100 children in both the United Kingdom and Peru were examined for signs of dental neglect using the PUFA (Pulpal exposures, Ulcers, Fistulas & Abscesses) system, and their anxiety levels surveyed with the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale. A Spearman's rank analysis was performed. RESULTS: Both groups showed similar disease levels, but Peruvian children were significantly less anxious. The r values (United Kingdom r=-0.020 Peru r=-0.0099) were less than rc=0.165 at a significance level of P=0.05, showing that increased dental neglect does not make children more anxious. DISCUSSION: It appears that having a neglected dentition as a child does not make you more anxious, but the resultant invasive treatment procedures likely to have been experienced as a child may have a role. Ultimately, cultural background and attitude to dental care are suggested as being more important in determining the dental anxiety levels of children.