Background

Personal protective equipment (PPE) gained importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a global hot topic for all healthcare staff.

Aim

To assess children and parents preferences about dentists’ appearance concerning their PPE and to determine the relationship between the preferences of the children and their parents.

Design

A total of 250 children aged 6-12 years and their parents were enrolled in the study. Standardised pictures with different sexes, attires, eye protectors, hair protectors, masks and gloves were shown to children and their parents separately and they were asked to chose their preferences. The dental anxiety of the children and their parents were determined using the MCDASf and MDAS, respectively. Decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) indices were employed for the children.

Results

Children and parents preferred a dentist of the same sex as them (p<0.05). Anxious children preferred cartoon-printed attire and children with low anxiety mostly prefered white coats (p=0.001). Children who preferred colored coats had higher DMFT (p<0.001). Statistically important differences were found in the attire and glove preferences between children and parents (p<0.001).

Conclusion

The production of white and child-friendly fluid-resistant disposable gowns should be considered under pandemic conditions. PPE with colored or cartoon print was preferred under the influence of factors that could positively affect anxiety.