ABSTRACT

Background:

In pediatric dentistry, first impressions are crucial to gain the children’s trust and cooperation. Therefore, understanding children's mentality and perceptions regarding the appearance of their dentist and the dental clinic design as well as addressing their preferences, will assist pediatric dentists in implementing beneficial changes. These adjustments can enhance children's comfort in the dental environment and elevate the quality of their dental visits.

Aim:

To determine the children's preferences of age, gender, attire of a pediatric dentist, dental clinic design, and their association with dental anxiety.

Material and methods:

An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in two of Ajman's private schools. A total sample size of 320 children aged between 6 to 14 years was asked to participate in a Google form questionnaire regarding their preferred dentist appearance and dental clinic design. All questions were displayed to each child using an IPAD/Tablet. A photograph that included the faces of four different pediatric dentists (a young female dentist, a young male dentist, an old female dentist, and an old male dentist) was displayed to the child who was requested to choose one among them. Then the chosen dentist appeared in 3 different attires (white coat, medical scrub, colorful pediatric scrub). Similarly, photographs of a plain waiting area, colorful waiting area, plain clinic setup, and colorful clinic set up were also displayed for the children to choose among them according to their preference. Children’s dental anxiety was measured using RMS Pictorial Child Dental Anxiety Scale (RMS-PCDAS) which consisted of 8 short videos that explained 8 clinical scenarios (going to the dentist, dental examination, prophylaxis and fluoride application, local anesthesia, cavity preparation and dental filling, tooth extraction, nitrous oxide sedation, and general anesthesia) along with a self-report facial expression that was adapted from the RMS-pictorial anxiety scale.