A further assessment of predictors of the child's behavior in dental treatment.

The child's disruptiveness during dental treatment was related modestly to his age as well as his state, trait, and dental anxiety. In three samples comprising 132 experienced and 49 inexperienced pedodontic patients, the child's behavior during treatment could not be predicted from any aspect of maternal anxiety -- trait, state, or dental. Previous conceptions of maternal influence on the child's dental anxiety should be re-evaluated.