Dental subscale of children′s fear survey schedule and dental caries prevalence

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the level of fear of dental procedures among 6-12 year school children and correlate the prevalence of dental caries with their dental fears scores. Materials and Methods: The study sample of 444 school children, comprising of 224 girls and 220 boys in the age group of 6-12 years old from a private English medium school were selected. Each student was asked to independently complete a Children′s Fear Survey Schedule - Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) questionnaire. Children having a score of ≥ 38 were included in the ′′dental fear′′ group while those scoring <38 were placed in the ′′without dental fear′′ group. All dental examinations were performed in the classroom. Results: Fear scores were highest for ′′Injections,′′ (3.76 ± 0.68) ′′Choking,′′ (3.48 ± 0.63) and ′′Dentist drilling′′ (2.88 ± 0.69). The overall mean score of CFSS-DS in our study was 37.0 ± 8.89, mean score of DMFT and DMFS were 0.58 ± 0.74 and 0.73 ± 1.09, respectively. Mean score of deft and defs were 4.40 ± 2.34 and 7.28 ± 5.49, respectively. Conclusion: The study showed the prevalence of dental fear in 6-12 year old children and there was no statistically significant co-relation between the level of dental fear and dental caries in these children.