Social Representations of Children in Relation to the Image of the Dentist

ABSTRACT

Objective: To identify the social representations of children in relation to the image of the dentist. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study with quantitativequalitative approach. The sample consisted of 80 children of both sexes aged 7-10 years attended at a clinic-school of a university in eastern Minas Gerais, Brazil. For data collection, the Test of Free Words Association (TALP) was used, with the word "dentist" as its inducing theme. The four items included in the research instrument were 1) evoke up to five words or expressions related to the dentist; 2) to order each of them numerically, with number one being the most important and number five being the least important; 3) to conceptualize the one elected as number one; and 4) to justify the reason for that choice. The EVOC software was used to carry out quantitative analyses and the Analysis of Content of Bardin for qualitative analyses. Results: The words that composed the central nucleus of social representations were "tooth", "pain", "brushing" and "treats". This grouping of ideas points to the following conceptual formulation "The dentist is someone who 'brushes' and 'treats' teeth, but sometimes performs procedures that cause 'pain'. The categories abstracted from participants' discourse were "oral health", "personal characteristics of the dentist" and "child-dentist interaction". Conclusion: Children presented predominantly positive image regarding the dentist.