Dental AnxietyNCT07882914
Dental Anxiety in Children Attending Emergency Versus Routine Dental Care
An observational study of Dental Anxiety and Dental Fear, run by Marmara University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
Trial summary
The goal of this observational study is to learn whether children who come to a pediatric dental emergency clinic have higher dental anxiety than children who come for routine dental care. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 2 to 13 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Dental Anxiety, Dental Fear
- How many people
- 47 participants
- Where
- 1 siteTurkey (Türkiye)
- Study dates
- 15 Mar 2025to 15 May 2025
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 2 to 13 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child
Study population: Children aged 2-13 years attending the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkiye, either at the pediatric emergency dental clinic (dental pain, acute apical abscess, facial swelling, or dental trauma) or at the routine pediatric dental clinic, enrolled consecutively during the study period.
Who may be able to join
- Children aged 2-13 years
- Written informed consent provided by a parent or legal guardian
- Admission to either the pediatric dentistry clinic or the pediatric emergency dental clinic
- Ability to communicate effectively with the researchers
- Absence of mental or cognitive disabilities
- Emergency group: attending the faculty for the first time with acute apical abscess, facial swelling, dental trauma, or similar urgent dental conditions (children who previously received dental treatment at other centers were also eligible)
- Routine group: attending for routine examination or treatment without dental pain, trauma, or acute infection at admission
Who cannot join
- Failure to obtain written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian
- Inability to communicate with the researchers or severe communication barriers
- Presence of mental or cognitive disabilities
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
Turkey (Türkiye)1 site
Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry
Istanbul, 34854
About this study
Official title: Evaluation of Dental Anxiety in Children Attending Emergency Versus Routine Dental Care: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study
The goal of this observational study is to learn whether children who come to a pediatric dental emergency clinic have higher dental anxiety than children who come for routine dental care. The study includes children aged 2 to 13 years attending the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkiye.
The main question it aims to answer is: Do children attending an emergency dental visit (because of dental pain, abscess, facial swelling, or dental trauma) have higher dental anxiety scores than children attending a routine dental visit?
Read more
Researchers will also look at whether dental anxiety is related to age, sex, previous dental visits, previous local anesthesia, and tooth decay experience.
Participants will:
- Have a parent or guardian fill out a short form about the child's age, sex, and dental history
- Receive a routine dental examination to record tooth decay (dmft/DMFT index)
- Answer the 4-question Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale during a single visit
No extra treatment or intervention is given as part of this study.
Read the detailed description
Dental fear and anxiety are common in children and are a major barrier to dental care. Dental pain and traumatic dental injuries are the leading reasons for emergency dental visits in children, but few studies have directly compared dental anxiety between children attending emergency and routine dental care.
This single-center, cross-sectional pilot study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry. Children were allocated to two groups according to the type of visit: (1) Emergency group: children presenting to the pediatric emergency dental clinic with pain due to acute apical abscess, facial swelling, dental trauma, or similar urgent conditions; (2) Routine group: children presenting for routine examination or treatment without dental pain, trauma, or acute infection.
After written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians, parents completed a questionnaire on demographic characteristics and dental history (previous dental visits, previous treatments, pain experience, local anesthesia or sedation history). Caries experience was recorded using the WHO dmft/DMFT index. Dental anxiety was measured with the Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (C-DAS; 4 items, total score 4-20).
Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics v24. Normality was assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test; group comparisons used the independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and categorical variables were compared with the Chi-square test. Correlations were evaluated with Pearson or Spearman analyses. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
The original protocol planned to include 106 participants; 47 children were enrolled during the data collection period, and the study was therefore reported as a pilot study.
- Conditions
- Dental Anxiety, Dental Fear
- Keywords
- Pediatric Dentistry, Emergency Dental Care, Corah Dental Anxiety Scale, Children, Dental Caries
- Medical subject headings
- Dental Caries
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Dental Care Group | Children aged 2-13 years presenting to the pediatric emergency dental clinic with dental pain due to acute apical abscess, facial swelling, dental trauma, or similar urgent conditions, attending the faculty for the first time. | |
| Routine Dental Care Group | Children aged 2-13 years presenting to the pediatric dentistry clinic for routine examination or treatment, with or without prior dental experience, and without dental pain, trauma, or acute infection at the time of admission. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Dental Anxiety Score (Corah Dental Anxiety Scale)
Dental anxiety was assessed using the Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (C-DAS), a 4-item questionnaire with each item scored from 1 to 5. Total scores range from 4 to 20, with higher scores indicating greater dental anxiety. Mean C-DAS scores were compared between the emergency and routine dental care groups.
Measured: Day 1 (before clinical examination)
Secondary outcomes (2)
Distribution of Dental Anxiety Categories
Participants were categorized according to total C-DAS score (not anxious: 0-4, low anxiety: 5-8, moderate anxiety: 9-12, high anxiety: 13-14, extreme anxiety/phobia: 15-20). The proportion of participants in each category was compared between groups.
Measured: Day 1 (before clinical examination)
Caries Experience (dmft/DMFT Index)
Caries experience was recorded by clinical examination using the WHO dmft/DMFT index (number of decayed, missing, and filled primary/permanent teeth). Higher scores indicate greater caries experience.
Measured: Day 1 (at clinical examination)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted20 Oct 2026
- Study start15 Mar 2025
- Primary completion15 May 2025
- Study completion15 May 2025
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Dental AnxietyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Marmara UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 47 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Marmara University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07882914
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 25-0157
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 29 Sep 2026
- Last updated
- 20 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Individual participant data will not be shared publicly because participants are minors and the informed consent obtained from parents/legal guardians did not include data sharing. Aggregated data are reported in the publication; anonymized data may be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with ethics committee approval.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 20 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Evaluation of Dental Anxiety in Children Attending Emergency Versus Routine Dental Care: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07882914
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 25-0157
- Conditions
- Dental Anxiety, Dental Fear
- Keywords
- Pediatric Dentistry, Emergency Dental Care, Corah Dental Anxiety Scale, Children, Dental Caries
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 47 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Marmara UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 15 Mar 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 15 May 2025 (actual)
- Study completion
- 15 May 2025 (actual)
- First posted
- 20 Oct 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this observational study is to learn whether children who come to a pediatric dental emergency clinic have higher dental anxiety than children who come for routine dental care. The study includes children aged 2 to 13 years attending the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Marmara University in Istanbul, Turkiye.
The main question it aims to answer is: Do children attending an emergency dental visit (because of dental pain, abscess, facial swelling, or dental trauma) have higher dental anxiety scores than children attending a routine dental visit?
Researchers will also look at whether dental anxiety is related to age, sex, previous dental visits, previous local anesthesia, and tooth decay experience.
Participants will:
- Have a parent or guardian fill out a short form about the child's age, sex, and dental history
- Receive a routine dental examination to record tooth decay (dmft/DMFT index)
- Answer the 4-question Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale during a single visit
No extra treatment or intervention is given as part of this study.
Detailed description
Dental fear and anxiety are common in children and are a major barrier to dental care. Dental pain and traumatic dental injuries are the leading reasons for emergency dental visits in children, but few studies have directly compared dental anxiety between children attending emergency and routine dental care.
This single-center, cross-sectional pilot study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry. Children were allocated to two groups according to the type of visit: (1) Emergency group: children presenting to the pediatric emergency dental clinic with pain due to acute apical abscess, facial swelling, dental trauma, or similar urgent conditions; (2) Routine group: children presenting for routine examination or treatment without dental pain, trauma, or acute infection.
After written informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians, parents completed a questionnaire on demographic characteristics and dental history (previous dental visits, previous treatments, pain experience, local anesthesia or sedation history). Caries experience was recorded using the WHO dmft/DMFT index. Dental anxiety was measured with the Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (C-DAS; 4 items, total score 4-20).
Statistical analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics v24. Normality was assessed with the Shapiro-Wilk test; group comparisons used the independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and categorical variables were compared with the Chi-square test. Correlations were evaluated with Pearson or Spearman analyses. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
The original protocol planned to include 106 participants; 47 children were enrolled during the data collection period, and the study was therefore reported as a pilot study.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency Dental Care Group | – | –Children aged 2-13 years presenting to the pediatric emergency dental clinic with dental pain due to acute apical abscess, facial swelling, dental trauma, or similar urgent conditions, attending the faculty for the first time. |
| Routine Dental Care Group | – | –Children aged 2-13 years presenting to the pediatric dentistry clinic for routine examination or treatment, with or without prior dental experience, and without dental pain, trauma, or acute infection at the time of admission. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 2 to 13 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child
- Study population
- Children aged 2-13 years attending the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Marmara University Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul, Turkiye, either at the pediatric emergency dental clinic (dental pain, acute apical abscess, facial swelling, or dental trauma) or at the routine pediatric dental clinic, enrolled consecutively during the study period.
Key inclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Children aged 2-13 years
- Written informed consent provided by a parent or legal guardian
- Admission to either the pediatric dentistry clinic or the pediatric emergency dental clinic
- Ability to communicate effectively with the researchers
- Absence of mental or cognitive disabilities
Key exclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Failure to obtain written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian
- Inability to communicate with the researchers or severe communication barriers
- Presence of mental or cognitive disabilities
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Dental Anxiety Score (Corah Dental Anxiety Scale)
Time frame: Day 1 (before clinical examination)
Dental anxiety was assessed using the Turkish version of the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (C-DAS), a 4-item questionnaire with each item scored from 1 to 5. Total scores range from 4 to 20, with higher scores indicating greater dental anxiety. Mean C-DAS scores were compared between the emergency and routine dental care groups.
2 secondary outcomes
Distribution of Dental Anxiety Categories
Time frame: Day 1 (before clinical examination)
Caries Experience (dmft/DMFT Index)
Time frame: Day 1 (at clinical examination)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 20 Oct 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Individual participant data will not be shared publicly because participants are minors and the informed consent obtained from parents/legal guardians did not include data sharing. Aggregated data are reported in the publication; anonymized data may be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request and with ethics committee approval.
Related trials for Dental Anxiety
Active, not recruiting
HRVB for Stress and Anxiety During Dentistry Students' Clinical Transition
Stress (Psychology), Anxiety
Recruiting
Pain Perception With Cordless Electronic Local Anesthetic Delivery System
Decayed Primary Molars
RecruitingObservational study
Bruxism, Anxiety, and Periodontal Status Among Dental Students
Bruxism, Anxiety
Recruiting
Comparative Evaluation of Intranasal Atomized Midazalom Combined With Nitrous Oxide Versus Nitrous Oxide Monotherapy
Dental Anxiety in Children, Child Behaviour
Active, not recruiting
Musical Intervention for Dental Anxiety
Dental Anxiety
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Dental Anxiety and Dental Fear, run by Marmara University at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye).
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 7 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 20 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Dental Anxiety Score (Corah Dental Anxiety Scale) (time frame: Day 1 (before clinical examination)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 20 Oct 2026.