A preterm newborn is defined as a baby born before 36 weeks and 6 days of gestational age. These children are susceptible to long-term complications. These children are sometimes exposed to high demands. One of these is being in various dental conditions. Anxiety and fear may be experienced by patients referring to a dentist, especially in children. The various effects of preterm birth on neurodevelopmental and cognitive outcomes may also affect cooperation in the dental care situation and oral health. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate stress in pre-term children and compare it with term children in order to understand these children and manage them correctly in dentistry. In this cross sectional study a total of 127 premature children born under 29 weeks of 14 gestational age in Al-Zahra Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences between 2015 and 2017 were identified. Children who needed restorative amalgam treatment of the mandibular molar were selected for this study. Finally, 120 preterm children participated in the study. The following variables were collected and analyzed: Anxiety during amalgam restoration based on the Faces version of the Modified Child Dental, Anxiety Scale questionnaire and General anxiety of the child based on the PAS questionnaire. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 22. The significance level was set at P<0.05. The overall mean of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety in preterm children (16.45±5.083) was significantly higher than full-term. There were significant differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder between the two groups, but in the overall mean, there were no significant differences between the two groups. There was no significant relationship between anxiety during dental treatments and anxious mood in the full-term group.
Based on the results, it can be concluded that there was a significant difference between the anxiety of preterm and full-term children, with higher levels of general anxiety in these children.
