A Cross-sectional Study to assess the Perception of Psychosocial Elements among Pediatric Patients visiting Dental Clinics

INTRODUCTION: Children with high dental fear and perception usually encounter high prevalence of dental caries. Data showed that individuals with dental fear will probably defer dental appointments which may result in the formation of a setup of an endless loop of dental fear. Present study was aimed to assess different psycho-social parameters among pediatric patients visiting dental clinics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present cross-sectional study, the data of 200 schoolchildren were collected and analyzed by means of a questionnaire. Evaluation of the oral health status was done by experienced pedodontists. All the answers were recorded and analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. RESULTS: Nearly 120 were regular attendees while remaining 80 were found to be irregular attendees. Significant difference was observed while comparing the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index, decayed teeth, dental fear, cognitive vulnerability, and dental prevention belief between the regular and irregular group. Significant correlation was observed between higher number of decayed teeth and increasing level of dental fear. CONCLUSION: Various psychosocial parameters, by affecting the dental visits, are associated with outcome of oral health measures. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Special attention should be paid to the pediatric patients with such kind of behavior so that their psy-chosocial attitude could be modified in favor of dental treatment.