Abstract
Despite free health care services in Saudi Arabia, the prevalence of caries in children is substantially greater in comparison to other high-income countries. Dental fear in children may be an important issue that needs attention. Therefore, the aim was to investigate the role of dental fear in predicting untreated dental caries in schoolchildren. This analytical cross-sectional study included children aged 8–10 years residing in Saudi Arabia. Dental status via oral examinations was surveyed with the WHO standardized chart and the Children Fear Survey Schedule—Dental Subscale was used to score dental fear. Descriptive, binary, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to report the findings at 5% statistical significance. Overall, there were 798 schoolchildren with an average fear score of 36. Nearly 70.4% reported fear of someone examining their mouth. About 76.9% had at least one carious tooth in their oral cavity. Children with dental fear were 1.8 times (OR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.26, 2.56) more likely to have at least one untreated carious tooth in their oral cavity than those who did not express fear during oral examinations and dental procedures. Thus, the current study concludes that fear of dentists and dental treatment procedures successfully predicts untreated carious teeth in schoolchildren.
Highlights
The Global Burden of Disease study estimated a loss of 74,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to dental anxiety [1]
Though there is a noticeable difference between the terms dental fear (DF), dental anxiety (DA), and dental phobia (DP) [4], the usual fear of dentists and dental treatments in children is an important issue that needs attention
The current analytical cross-sectional study demonstrated that the fear of dentists and dental treatments significantly predicted the presence of untreated dental caries in children
Summary
The Global Burden of Disease study estimated a loss of 74,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to dental anxiety [1]. Fear of dentists and dental treatments is significantly associated with delay in oral health care, most often due to increased frequency of appointment cancellations [2,3]. A report aggregated findings from 50 studies and estimated that nearly 23.9% of children fear dentists or dental treatments [4]. There could be further increases in the burden of oral health problems in children due to delayed dental visits, which may in turn negatively impact their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and wellbeing [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
