Anxiety and pain during dental treatment among children with haemophilia

Aim Dental interventions are potentially overwhelming for children with hemophilia; the study was designed to assess the levels of dental anxiety related to the first dental intervention for these children. Materials and methods Fifty-six boys with severe haemophilia A and B and 56 healthy peers between the ages of 7-12 in need of primary dental extraction were chosen for this study. Facial Analog Scale and Visual Analog Scale were applied to all participants. Results No significant differences among the groups were detected by means of the dental anxiety scores (FIS) and pain scores (VAS). The FIS scores of children who had experienced dental pain before the treatment were significantly higher regardless of the group they were part of (p=0.001). Conclusion Children with haemophilia are not at an increased risk of dental anxiety using special precautions and with the help of adequate treatment regimens. Pain is a predictor for dental fear and anxiety on dental chair both for children with haemophilia and healthy ones.