Nivel de ansiedad en pacientes pediátricos previa a la atención dental: Un estudio transversal

Introduction: Dental care anxiety is common and has a direct impact on oral health. Children often experience anxiety and trauma during dental visits, which can hinder timely care. Objective: To evaluate anxiety levels in pediatric patients before dental care, according to age and sex. Methods: The study was carried out under a non-experimental, cross-sectional, descriptive design, with a sample of 176 pediatric patients between 3 and 12 years of age, who attended the pediatric dentistry service of a private university in Cusco, during the period from September to December 2023, selected according to selection criteria. The instruments used were: the modified Corah dental anxiety scale (MDAS), which identifies anxiety in five levels. Results: The results showed a predominance of severe anxiety or phobia among patients of both sexes. The level of anxiety was identified to have significant relationship with age. Conclusions: The importance of considering age as a determining factor in dental anxiety in children is emphasized, which requires adapting strategies for each age group due to the fact that the older the age the less anxiety. There is a lack of dependence between anxiety and sex, which suggests the universality of dental anxiety without distinction of gender.