Dental fear and its determinants in 7-11-year-old children in Tehran, Iran
S Z Mohebbi1, S Razeghi1, M Gholami1
1Community Oral Health Department, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Aim:
To assess dental fear and its determinants in 7-11-year-old children.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study, the standard Persian version of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) questionnaire was completed by 240 parent-child (children aged 7-11 years) pairs referred to dental clinics in Tehran city, Iran. Background characteristics were also inquired.
Results:
An equal number of boys and girls participated in the study. The mean score of fear among the children was 21.66 ± 8.33. The causes of fear among the children were, first, injection, and then, seeing the dentist's drill, choking feeling, and finally, filling the tooth. There was a significant correlation between the scores of children's dental fear and their experience of meeting with the dentist (p = 0.001). The result of the regression test showed that the age of the children (p = 0.022) and high levels of dental fear among their fathers (p < 0.001) was related to high levels of dental fear among the children.
Conclusions:
The present children revealed a moderate level of dental fear. Taking children's age into account in behavioural management and challenging father's fear seemed to play a key role to reduce the child's fear and prevent its long-term consequences.
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