Dental Fear and Its Relationship to Oral Health in Children

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine the prevalence of dental fear among children, to assess the relationship between dental fear and oral health, and to determine whether the fear in parents has an impact on the development of dental fear in children.
Methods: The study included 120 children, aged 4-16 years, and their parents who filled in the modified ‘Children’s dental fear’ questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions related to subjects’ attitudes towards: dental visits, dental examination, rotary instruments, and local anaesthesia. The diagnosis of dental caries was performed using the DMFT/dmft criteria, and the oral hygiene was assessed with the Simplified Oral hygiene index (Greene-Vermilion). Mann-Whitney U-test and chi-square test were used in the statistical analyses.
Results: Fifty-nine percent of children were classified as anxious, and 41% were with low anxiety. Eighty-four percent of children reported a fear of drilling, and 76% had a fear of local anesthesia/needle. In addition, 54% stated that a dental reflector disturbed them, and 48% complained about the odor in a dental office. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between anxious and non-anxious children in caries experience (for anxious children mean DMFT=7.6±6.2, mean dmft=8.6±3.8; for non-anxious children mean DMFT=2.0±1.7, mean dmft=5.1±6.0). Good oral hygiene was found in 23% of anxious and 55.5% of non-anxious children (p<0.05). The correlation between dental fear in children and their parents was found in 64% of cases.
Conclusions: Results of the study show that poorer oral health may be associated with dental fear. Dental fear in children can be a reflection of incorrect attitudes of their parents.