Resumo

ANDRADE, Daniel Soares Paes De et al. Children's perceptions through drawings and verbal characterizations of the dentist. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2013, vol.49, n.4, pp. 184-190. ISSN 1516-0939.

Aim: The present study aimed to understand children's perceptions of dentists by analyzing drawings and verbal characterizations. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study, with a quantitative and qualitative approach, was conducted with 60 children between 7 and 12 years of age in public and private schools. The parents/guardians answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and the children were interviewed about the characterization of the dentist, type of dental service, and the frequency of dental care. In addition, the children were asked to make a freehand drawing of the dentist. The analysis of the drawings was performed by means of a previously validated questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, version 13.0, in the form of descriptive (absolute numbers and percentages) and inferential (Fisher's exact test and Pearson's Chisquared test) statistics, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: Upon analyzing the drawings, it could be observed that the majority of the children had a negative impression of the dentist (51.7%). More frequently, the dentist performed preventive procedures (71.7%), was friendly (76.7%), and explained the procedures to be performed on the children (79.4%); however, the majority of children did not understand the explanations (53.8%). In addition, a statistically significant association could only be made between males and the negative image of the dentist (p = 0.009). Conclusion: The children had a negative impression of the dentist, which was associated with males. In addition, children did not understand the explanations of the procedures, despite the previous explanation. In this sense, the planning of actions aimed at demystifying the negative image of the dentist and the awareness of dental professionals regarding the Psychology to be applied to children are of utmost importance.

Palavras-chave : Dentistry.; Child.; Dentist-patient relations..