ArticleClinical, cosmetic and investigational dentistry2021
Relationship Between Maternal Dental Anxiety and Children's Dental Caries in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Article in Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dentistry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oral Health, Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in Pregnancy: A Rapid Review of Associations and Implications for Perinatal Care.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Parents' Dental Anxiety in Early Pregnancy and Toothbrushing Stability for Parent and Child Until Age 4-A Longitudinal Study.Dentistry journal · 2026Article
- Dental fear, anxiety, oral hygiene and dental caries in Al Ahsa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: a hospital-based cross-sectional study.The Saudi dental journal · 2026Article
- The relationship between parental mental health and early childhood caries: a meta-analysis and systematic review.BDJ open · 2026Article
- Effects of maternal dental anxiety on the time of first dental visit and dental caries status of children.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- The Complex Interplay Between Dental Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety, and Dental Neglect and Oral Health Quality of Life in the General Public.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Substance use during pregnancy and childhood dental caries: a Brazilian cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The impact of parental dental anxiety and oral health literacy on child oral health and dental-visit patterns: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Is It Mum or the Dad? Parental Factors That Influence the Use and Acceptance of Fluoride Varnish among Parents in Eastern Saudi Arabia.International journal of dentistry · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeDental anxiety is a barrier to dental care utilization and is associated with poor oral health outcomes. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between dental anxiety of mothers and dental caries of their children in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of mother-child pairs (N= 199) in Dammam, AlKhobar, and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Dental caries experience among children was determined using dmft/DMFT indexes following the World Health Organization's guidelines. Maternal dental anxiety was assessed by using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS).
resultsThe mean ages of mothers and children were 33.98 ± 5.41 and 6.74 ± 2.29 years, respectively. The mean dmft score was 4.3 ± 3.99 in primary dentition and the mean maternal dental anxiety score was 13.89 ± 5.33. Ninety-two percent of mothers had low to extreme dental anxiety and only 8% reported no dental anxiety. Dental caries experience in primary teeth was higher in children of dentally anxious mothers (mean dmft 4.45 ± 3.92) than the children of mothers who were non-anxious (mean dmft 2.56 ± 4.59) (P=0.07). The mean maternal anxiety score was significantly higher in children with untreated decay in primary dentition (14.49 ± 5.08) than those with sound primary dentition (12.24 ± 5.67) (P = 0.008). The study also found a statistically significant correlation between maternal dental anxiety and untreated decay in the primary dentition (Pearson's r =0.171, P = 0.015).
conclusionDental anxiety was highly prevalent among mothers in the present study. There was a significant relationship between maternal dental anxiety and untreated decay in the primary dentition. Awareness should be raised among dentally anxious mothers to reduce the burden of dental caries in their children.
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