Epidemiological Survey of Dental Fear and Anxiety in Children Living in Transylvania

Aims: The objectives of the present survey were: 1) a systematic epidemiological investigation of dental fear and anxiety among children living in the central part of Romania and 2) to identify the most fearful aspects of dental care perceived by these children.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study 406 schoolchildren, 170 males and 263 females, aged 11-18 yearsfrom two cities, Tîrgu Mureş and Sfîntu Gheorghe were assessed. The subjects’ dental fear was evaluated with the Romanian versions of Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and Kleinknecht’s Dental Fear Survey (DFS), the anxiety level with Spielberger`s State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S, STAI-T) and their opinion about dentists with Getz’s Dental Beliefs Scale (DBS). Questionnaires were completed anonymously at school. The study was approved by theResearch Ethics Committeeof the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Tîrgu Mureş. For statistical analysis t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation test were used by SPSS/PC statistics v. 17.0.
Results: The mean (±SD) scores of the surveyed subjects (mean age 15.69±2.06 years) were high: MDAS 10.65 (±4.5), DFS 38.68 (±15.1), DBS 36.93 (±11.9), STAI-S 37.90 (±10.9) and STAI-T 41.04 (±9.9), respectively. There was a strong positive Pearson-correlation between MDAS and DFS scores (r=0.73; p≤0.01) and a somewhat lower correlation between these scales and the general anxiety scores. Except for DBS, statistically significantly higher scores were found in females for every questionnaire (t-test, p≤0.05). The 11-year-old group presented the lowest scores in every case, while the peak was around 14 years. Age was a statistically significant factor only in case of DBS, STAI-S and STAI-T (one-way ANOVA, p<0.05). Drilling and injection were considered the most fearful moments of a dental treatment. Subjects claimed dental practitioners working under time pressure and communication deficiencies.
Conclusions: Having their special features, our findings were consistent with the local and international data. The subjects claim lack of time and communication deficiencies with the dentists. Identifying the reasons of dental fear and anxiety, might lead to solutions of avoidance or control.