Childhood fear and anxiety states in relation to dental treatment.

Five years experience by the authors in organizing a dental psychology clinic has impressed on them that many excessively fearful child patients have a history of untoward dental and medical experiences which might have been prevented. A background to an understanding of fear and anxiety in children is presented, and two cases are described to illustrate straight-forward behavior modification techniques which can be used to help the fearful or excessively anxious child cope with dental treatment.