Lack of cooperation in pediatric dentistry--the role of child personality characteristics.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate fear, temperament, behavioral symptoms and verbal intelligence in a study group of uncooperative child dental patients, partly in comparison with a reference group of ordinary child dental patients. A second aim was to explore a hypothesis of heterogeneity by searching for subgroups within the study group.Parents of 86 study group children (36 aged 4-to 7- years and 50 aged 8- to 12-years) and 117 reference group children (8- to 12-years) answered a questionnaire concerning dental and general fear, temperament and general behavior. Study group children performed a vocabulary test to measure verbal intelligence. Data were analyzed with a variable-based and a person-based approach.In addition to dental fear, a higher level of impulsivity most clearly discriminated study group from reference group children. Cluster analyses revealed four different fear and personality subgroups within the study group.Uncooperative child dental patients constitute a heterogeneous group. Subgroups with different fear, temperament and behavior problem profiles can be identified. These subgroups could be presumed to benefit from different treatment regimens, which should be further investigated.