[Statistical analysis of the "Dental Fear Questionnaire" surveying various subpopulations in Hungary]

Authors investigated the Dental Fear Survey scores (DFS) of 362 persons from several subpopulations living in Budapest. Subjects were: 253 females, 109 males, aged 14 to 73 years. Scores of the items related to dental handpiece and anaesthetic needle were the highest. The group the participants belonged to influenced 19 items, marital status and age influenced 13 items, and sex influenced 10 items of the DFS significantly (one-way ANOVA, p < or = 0.05). Scores related to dental handpiece were higher than scores related to the anaesthetic needle, and the scores of the 20th item ("overall fear of dentistry") were near to the scores of most fearful items, indicating some "phobic character" of the Hungarian population.