Bug and the bacteria: are these the unique mental representation of tooth decay?

Objective: Dental caries has a multifactorial aetiology and affects a large part of children’s population worldwide, sometimes configured as a chronic disease. The use of drawing as a projective technique has revealed to be of great use on accessing children's perceptions regarding health issues. The present study aimed to understand how children experience the mental representation of dental caries. Methods: In this exploratory study, the sample consists of 812 children aged between 6 -12 years, recruited from appointments of Paediatric Dentistry at the Egas Moniz University Clinic. This study combined a qualitative methodological strategy with quantitative parameters. Participants were invited to draw a healthy tooth and an (un)healthy tooth. In the present study, only the illustrations regarding (un)healthy tooth has been analyzed through a content analysis grid, to explore the presence of dental caries on the drawing teeth. It was taken into consideration five (5) analytical categories and subcategories, from the content analysis grid designed especially for this research: i) fractures, ii) stains, iii) cavitation, iv) symbols and v) extra drawing. Results: In the present study, Tooth Decay were mental represented by children mostly as Stains. Some participants also drew tears, representing the pain associated to the dental decay. Extra drawings such as bugs, thermometers, bandages and ice bags, were also drawn by the participants expressing the idea of a sick tooth. Conclusions: The drawing as a projective technique of a qualitative nature is a graphical record of high empirical relevance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Drawing as a process of psychic mediation along the child´s developmental trajectory

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).INTRODUCTION: The intrapsychic process of resorting to the symbolic is innate and prepares the child for the organization of his internal world. Throughout the child's developmental trajectory, its playful projective expression, allows us to assess the psychographically internalized stages of development. The present study aims to evaluate the mental representation of the concept of symbolism, size, and perspective of designed percepts along the developmental trajectory (age range from 4 to 12 years).METHODS: Patients were invited to produce two drawings depicting a Healthy Tooth and an Unhealthy Tooth. The qualitative content grid for the analysis of the drawings was originally designed to study the pictorial representations found in the sample. However, in this article, we only intend to present the results obtained regarding Symbolism, Size and Perspective categories that are part of the content analysis grid.RESULTS: Regarding the Symbolism Category, most respondents between 4 and 6 years of age, pictorially represented an Unrealistic Tooth, and from 10 years onwards there is a marked decrease in this pictorial (Un)Realism. Regarding the Size of Teeth Category, from 8 years old onwards the drawings seem to increase in terms of their dimension. When it comes to Perspective Category, the percept drawn in a 2D perspective clearly prevails, regardless of age.CONCLUSION: Results obtained in this study show that the mental representation of (Un)Healthy teeth are early internalized during childhood and the stages of psychographic development seem to be reliable indicators of the development of the mental representation of the child´s symbolism.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Anthropomorphized Emotional Profile of a (Un) Healthy Tooth

Drawing as a projective technique allows the access to the child's intrapsychic experiences. Notoriously, the use of drawings has been known as a referential research instrument in qualitative Health studies. Objectives: This exploratory study aims at understanding the mental representation of the concept of a healthy tooth and of an unhealthy tooth, through anthropomorphized drawings made by children, aged 6-12 years. Methods: The sample consisted of 150 children of both genders who attended at least one dental appointment at a University Dental Clinic of a metropolitan urban area. Drawings that showed anthropomorphized teeth (n = 300) were selected to perform the content analysis of the anthropomorphized features. Results: There is a clear variation in the level of anthropomorphizing of teeth according to age and gender. Conclusion: The results point to an increase in subject’s mental representation of reality in drawings in accordance to subject’s age, most significantly from 10 years onwards