Application of a projective method for assessing children´s dental fear

Objectives: The aims of this this study were to assess children's dental fear by using a projective technique (Children's dental fear picture test-CDFP) and to test the validity of it through the correlation with Children's Fear Survey Schedule- Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). Methods: Forty patients, from the Pediatric Dental Clinic, between five and nine years old, took part in this study. At first, the CDFP was applied to children. This test has three subtests: CDFP- Dental Settings, CDFP- Pointing Pictures e CDFP-Sentence Completion task. For each subtest the children are assessed as fearful, non fearful and uncertain, and at the end, the overall assessment is made, using the same criteria. The CFSS-DS is a five-point scale ranging from "not afraid" (1) to very afraid (5). Total scores ranged from 15 to 75 and scores higher than 38 suggest dental fear. Results: The results, according to the overall assessment of the CDFP, showed that 60.0% of the children were assessed as not fearful, 25.0% were found to be fearful and 15.0% were assessed as uncertain. The results showed that the three subtests of CDFP and overall assessment presented significant correlation, and besides it was observed inter-examiner agreement. Conclusion: The significant correlation with the CFSS-DS revealed that the projective method CDFP is a valid instrument for assessing children's dental fear.