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.