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

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.