Child Dental Fear - Association with Toothbrushing and Active Intial Caries

Among adults dental fear has been associated with poor oral habits and poor oral health. Objectives: The aim was to determine if dental fear is associated with self-reported toothbrushing frequency or presence of active initial caries lesions among children. Methods: The data about dental fear and toothbrushing were gathered among 11- and 12-year-old children in Pori (N=1691) and Rauma (N=807), Finland in 2001, with a questionnaire. Of the children in Pori, 1503 were screened by a calibrated dentist for the presence of at least one active initial caries lesion. Dental fear was measured with 5-point and toothbrushing frequency with 7-point Likert-scale questions. Cross-tabulations and chi squared tests were used to evaluate the association with dental fear and toothbrushing (n= 2210) and active initial caries lesions (yes/no) (n=1467). Results: In Pori and Rauma, 10% of the children reported to be quite or very afraid of dentistry (high fear) and 21% reported to be at least to some degree afraid of dentistry (modest fear). Children with dental fear reported to brush their teeth less often (p=0.003) and had more often active initial caries lesions (p=0.007) than children without dental fear. Of those with high fear, 45% brushed their teeth twice-a-day compared to 52% of the rest of the children. The corresponding percentages for children with at least modest fear and the rest of the children were 50% and 52%, respectively. Of the high fear children 50% had active initial caries compared to 45% of the rest of the children. The corresponding percentages for children with at least modest fear and the rest of the children were 53% and 43%, respectively. Conclusion: Children with dental fear are more likely to have poor oral health and related habits. Dental fear should be recognized and treated to promote children's oral health and dental attendance.