Parents’ Dental Anxiety in Early Pregnancy and Toothbrushing Stability for Parent and Child Until Age 4—A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

<div><div><div><em>first_page</em></div><div><em>settings</em></div><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6767/14/5/271/reprints">Order Article Reprints </a></div></div><div><div>Open AccessArticle</div><h1>Parents’ Dental Anxiety in Early Pregnancy and Toothbrushing Stability for Parent and Child Until Age 4—A Longitudinal Study</h1><div>by<div>Arja Liinavuori</div>^1,2,*<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7278-0494"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a>, <div>Risto Virtanen</div>^1,2, <div>Auli Suominen</div>¹, <div>Hanna Suokko</div>¹, <div>Vesa Pohjola</div>^1,3<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3521-5661"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a>, <div>Mimmi Tolvanen</div>⁴<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0889-8164"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a>, <div>Mika Kajita</div>¹<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7597-174X"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a>, <div>Hasse Karlsson</div>^5,6,7, <div>Linnea Karlsson</div>^5,6,8,9<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4725-0176"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a> and <div>Satu Lahti</div>^1,5,8<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3457-4611"><img src="https://pub.mdpi-res.com/img/design/orcid.png?0465bc3812adeb52?1782113190" title="ORCID"></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div><div><div>¹</div><div>Department of Community Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>²</div><div>Dental Healthcare, Social and Healthcare Services, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, 02033 Espoo, Finland</div></div><div><div>³</div><div>Research Unit of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, 90570 Oulu, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁴</div><div>Emergency Services Academy Finland, 70821 Kuopio, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁵</div><div>Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku Brain and Mind Center, FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁶</div><div>Unit of Child Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁷</div><div>Department of Psychiatry, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁸</div><div>Centre for Population Health Research, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>⁹</div><div>Unit of Public Health, Department of Clinical Medicine, Turku University Hospital, University of Turku, 20520 Turku, Finland</div></div><div><div>^*</div><div>Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.</div></div></div></div><div><em>Dent. J.</em> <strong>2026</strong>, <em>14</em>(5), 271; <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/dj14050271">https://doi.org/10.3390/dj14050271</a></div><div>Submission received: 10 March 2026 / Revised: 15 April 2026 / Accepted: 27 April 2026 / Published: 5 May 2026</div><div>(This article belongs to the Special Issue <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/journal/dentistry/special_issues/Z7D6299TUB">Dental Anxiety: The Current Status and Developments</a>)</div><div><div> Download <em>keyboard_arrow_down</em> <div><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6767/14/5/271#">Browse Figure</a></div><div><br></div> <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6767/14/5/271/notes">Versions Notes</a></div></div><div><div><p><br></p><div><h2>Abstract</h2><div>Objectives: This longitudinal study examined the association of parents’ dental anxiety during early pregnancy with the stability of brushing their own and their children’s teeth from the age of one to four years. Methods: The study used data from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, which included 816 mothers and 379 fathers who completed questionnaires on dental anxiety at gestational week 14 and on toothbrushing frequency for themselves and their child at the ages of 1, 2, and 4 years. Dental anxiety was assessed using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale. The stability of toothbrushing was categorized as stable good (twice daily or more at all time points), fluctuating, good at 4 years (fluctuates over time points, but good at age 4 years), fluctuating, poor (less than twice daily) at 4 years (fluctuates over time points, but poor at age 4 years), stable poor (poor at all time points). Unordered multinomial logit models regarding the association of parents’ dental anxiety on brushing their own and their children’s teeth were adjusted for education, and education and parents’ own toothbrushing, respectively. Results: Compared to the mothers who brushed their teeth twice daily throughout the study (“stable good”), those belonging to the “fluctuating, good at 4 years” group and those belonging to the “stable poor/poor at 4 years” group were more likely to have higher dental anxiety (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.01–1.13 and OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.00–1.08, respectively). This association was not found among fathers. Parents’ dental anxiety was not associated with the brushing of their children’s teeth. Conclusions: Attending to the mother’s dental anxiety during pregnancy could improve her toothbrushing.</div></div></div></div></div>