Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026
A Standardized Approach to Extra-Oral and Intra-Oral Digital Photography
Published on: July 22, 2022
Validation of a Facial Image Scale to assess child dental anxiety
1Division of Psychology, University of Derby, Mickleover, UK. h.buchanan@derby.ac.uk
Objective:
To examine the validity of a scale that uses faces as an indicator of children's dental anxiety.
Setting:
Department of Child Dental Health waiting room, Newcastle Dental Hospital.
Subjects And Methods:
100 children (aged 3-18 years) completed the Facial Image Scale (FIS) and the Venham Picture Test (VPT) in the dental hospital waiting room.
Results:
A strong correlation (0.7) was found between the two scales, indicating good validity for the FIS. Findings also showed that a small, but significant, number of children are anxious in the dental context.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest that the FIS is a valid means of assessing child dental anxiety status in a clinical context.
