Childrens' Experiences of Pain in Conjunction With Tooth Extraction - a Grounded Theory Study

Childrens' Experiences of Pain in Conjunction With Tooth Extraction - a Grounded Theory

This is a qualitative study, using Grounded Theory. The aim is to deepen our knowledge about how children perceive pain in conjunction with dental treatment; tooth extractions in particular. What increases, and what decreases, the risk of children experiencing pain; and how do they perceive dental treatments where pain might occur, either as procedural pain, or postoperatively?

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Adolescent; Pain, Postoperative; Child; Pain, Procedural; Tooth Extraction; Attitude

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND: Pain in conjunction with dental treatment should be avoided as much as possible, when treating children. Many dental procedures may result in procedural and/or postoperative pain. There is a well-documented relationship between perceived pain during/after dental treatment, and the development of dental fear and anxiety. This may lead to suffering for the patient and accelerating treatment-costs for society. Despite this, research on children and pain is scarce. Systematic review shows a lack of studies on oral analgesics and their possibility to reduce/prevent pain. There is a need for randomized clinical trials regarding different treatments and effect of analgesics. However, before such research can be undertaken, one important piece is missing; an understanding on how children and adolescents perceive dental treatment and the possible pain afterwards. The aim of this study is to elucidate how children perceive dental treatment and pain after tooth extractions.

METHODS: This is a qualitative study using Grounded Theory (GT). Children aged 10-15 years, who needs teeth extracted prior orthodontic treatment, will be consecutively enrolled if the legal guardians signs the informed consent-form and the child assents to participate. Tooth extractions will then be performed by another dentist than the one doing the interviews with the children. A treatment protocol, in accordance with today standardized practice, for the extractions will be followed. No extra dental treatment is performed, rather this is a part of the whole treatment plan for orthodontic treatment. In-depth interview will be performed with the children 1-2 weeks after tooth extraction, at a place convenient for the child/family. If the participant wishes to, they can be accompanied by their legal guardian during the interview. The questions will focus on their experiences of the tooth extraction, perceived pain, pain management, coping strategies, and previous experiences of pain and how they handled it then. Each interview is calculated to take approximately one hour. In Grounded Theory no sample size calculation is applicable. Participants will be included until saturation in data is reached, i.e. no new information can be obtained. In GT this is often achieved after 10-15 interviews, but when it involves children it is not unlikely that the number of participants will be closer to 20, since there is a risk of the interviews not being so "rich". All interviews will be tape recorded, and without further delay, the interviews will be transcribed. Data analyses and data collection will be done parallel with each other. The transcribed interviews will be analyzed, where codes will be identified. These codes will then merge into different preliminary categories. In the following axial coding process, each category will be further developed by identifying dimensions and characteristics (sub-categories). Relations between data and categories is sought for, and hereby a new whole is created. Selective coding will lead to data saturation and validation. Saturation can also be achieved by already retrieved data being re-coded.

KNOWLEDGE GAINS: GT is a theory generating method. This is especially suitable for research areas where theories are scarce or completely lacking. A lot of research within the medical and dental field today, takes the perspective of the investigator, and far too seldom is those directly affected (i.e. the patient), involved. From an ethical point of view, it is important to include children and adolescents if the research is targeting this group. If knowledge about how children and adolescents perceive pain is gained, this will be an important piece in assembling the puzzle of research strategies related to pain.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 12

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Scania
    • Malmö, Scania, Sweden, SE-20506
      • Faculty of Odontology, Malmo University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 15 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children aged 10-15 years of age, identified as eligable according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, during first visit to orthodontist, working in city of Malmö, Sweden.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy individuals
• In need of extraction of permanent premolars prior orthodontic treatment

Exclusion Criteria:

• If sedation is needed to be able to comply with dental treatment
• Do not understand Swedish language

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Children's experiences during and after tooth extraction, and it's consequences	After tooth extraction, on orthodontic indications, participants, 10-15 years of age, are interviewed. The interviews are transcribed and analyzed, identifying codes, which will be clustered into categories. Through different types of methods, used in Grounded Theory, core categories will be identified which together with other categories and sub-categories, will answer the question "what is all this about?".	Fall 2019

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Malmö University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Berlin H, List T, Ridell K, Klingberg G. Dentists' attitudes towards acute pharmacological pain management in children and adolescents. Int J Paediatr Dent. 2018 Mar;28(2):152-160. doi: 10.1111/ipd.12316. Epub 2017 Jul 10.
• Ashley PF, Parekh S, Moles DR, Anand P, MacDonald LC. Preoperative analgesics for additional pain relief in children and adolescents having dental treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Aug 8;2016(8):CD008392. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008392.pub3.
• Berlin H, List T, Ridell K, Davidson T, Toft D, Klingberg G. Postoperative pain profile in 10-15-year-olds after bilateral extraction of maxillary premolars. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent. 2019 Dec;20(6):545-555. doi: 10.1007/s40368-019-00425-9. Epub 2019 Apr 8.
• Charmaz K. Grounded theory. In: Smith JA, Harre R, van Langenhove L, eds. Rethinking methods in psychology, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications, 1995; 27-49.
• Charmaz K. Grounded theory. Objectivist and constructivist methods. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS, eds. Handbook of qualitative research, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000; 509-535.
• Dellve L, Henning Abrahamsson K, Trulsson U, Hallberg LR-M. Grounded theory in public health research. In: Hallberg LR-M, ed. Qualitative methods in public health research: theoretical foundations and practical examples. Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2002; 137-173.
• Glaser B, Strauss A. The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1967.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 5, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 16, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 20, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 20, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): August 22, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 15, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2023
• Last Verified: March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: adolescent; child; postoperative pain; procedural pain; tooth extraction; grounded theory
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Postoperative Complications; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Pain, Postoperative; Pain, Procedural
• Other Study ID Numbers: GT dental pain Malmo U

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No