Abstract:

Objective: This study aimed to determine the complementary and supportive practices used by parents for their children with dental pain. Materials and Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 1,551 parents who had 6–12-year-old children, and whose children had previously experienced dental pain. The data were collected using questionaries prepared by the researchers. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Results: In all, 61.7% of parents used only complementary, 18.4% only supportive, and 19.9% both complementary and supportive practices to deal with their children dental pain. Child age, previous dental experience, age at developing the habit of tooth brushing, fear of the dentist, father’s employment status, and number of children in the family were statistically significant predictive factors on using only complementary practices by parents. Conclusions: Parents should be informed about the harmful practices that their children use to cope with dental pain and should be directed to methods whose benefits have been proven by evidence-based studies.

Keywords: