Specific fear inducing items and overall dental fear in children

Objective: To determine how specific fear inducing items contribute to the overall dental fear level in Nigerian children. In addition, it looks at the specific changes that psychological management produces on each item and how variables like age, gender and type of treatment received contribute to these specific changes observed. Method: The dental fear level of 75 children who were attending the dental clinic for the first time were assessed pre and post treatment using the short form of the dental subscale of the child fear survey schedule. During treatment, the children were managed using various forms of psychological management strategies. The effect of age and gender of the children on the dental fear level were analyzed. The effect of the type of treatment received on the dental fear level was also determined. Results: With the use of psychological management strategies, dental fear level of the children decreased significantly post treatment (13.45 vs 12.59; p=0.009). However, no statistically significant difference was noted in the dental fear scores based on age, gender and type of treatment received. On the other hand, the aggregate scores for each of the possible fear inducing items highlighted in the psychometric scale varied and so did the effectiveness of psychological techniques in significantly reducing dental fear scores for each of the items. Age, gender and type of treatment did have significant effect on the fear level changes that occur with specific items. Conclusion: Although a significant change occur in the dental fear level score of the child post management with psychological techniques, this does not necessarily translate to significant changes in the scores for each fear inducing item assessed by the psychometric scale. Age, gender and the type of treatment the child received also influence the change that could occur for each item