New guide to help children tackle fear

22 November 2016
Volume 31 · Issue 6

A newly published guide aimed at children who are fearful of the dentist has been welcomed by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. 

Written by a team from the University of Sheffield, the guide is underpinned by cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to reduce children’s anxiety about dental care.

The team found that 60 per cent of children felt a lot less worried about visiting the dentist after using the guide, which is available as a paper version http://tinyurl.com/hc998flor free online atwww.lltty.com/dental or as an iBook. Research from the first study has already been published and a further trial to assess clinical and cost effectiveness is planned.

The project was funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and led by Zoe Marshman, dental public health consultant at the School of Clinical Dentistry in Sheffield. The team of paediatric dentists included Professor Helen Rodd, Annie Morgan, Jennifer Kirby and Suneeta Prasad.

Commenting on the new self help guide on behalf of BSPD, Claire Stevens said: “This team is pioneering the child’s perspective on dental treatment. They are world leaders in redefining patient care and patient centred research so that it truly focuses on the child.

“We are very proud that the two disciplines of dental public health and paediatric dentistry are working together in this way to develop valuable resources. There are thousands of children who are anxious about dental care and anything that is user friendly and supportive of children and their parents is most welcome. This work has the BSPD seal of approval!”

Zoe Marshman added: “The guide was designed with children to give them choice and control to challenge commonly held unhelpful thoughts and provide information on dental procedures.”

She said: “Children who are scared of the dentist often end up with poor dental health and stay scared of the dentist for the rest of their lives.”

A 14 year old girl from Sheffield who used the guide said: “Normally I'm really scared in the dentist and normally I'll just say I don't need to go. When I read some of this, I was like cool and then the dentist kept telling me that you do get to make decisions; then I felt more comfortable”