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Publisher: Peytchinski Publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 1312-773X (Online)
Issue: 2025, vol. 31, issue2
Subject Area: Dental Medicine
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DOI: 10.5272/jimab.2025312.6238
Published online: 29 May 2025
Original article
J of IMAB. 2025 Apr-Jun;31(2):6238-6242
ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOR AND FEAR OF DENTAL TREATMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
Peter Bakardjiev1
, Milena Georgieva1
, Félix De Carlos-Villafranca2, Nadezhda Mitova1,
1)Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University – Sofia, Bulgaria.
2)Department of Surgery and Medical-Surgical Specialities, Orthodontics Section, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oviedo, Spain.
ABSTRACT:
Introduction: Fear of dental treatment is an increasingly common problem in pediatric dentistry. Anxious patients tend to overestimate pain and discomfort during treatment, postpone or reschedule appointments, which results in negative consequences for their oral health.
Aim: To determine the relative share of children with problematic behavior in the dental office between the ages of 4 and 6 years.
Materials and methods: The subjects of the study were 300 children between 4 and 6 years of age. A comprehensive dental examination and professional oral hygiene were carried out on each child, during which the child's behavior was assessed using psychological methods - Frankl Scale and self-assessment methods related to dental fear - a pictorial modified version of the questionnaire of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS).
Results: Assessment of children's behavior according to the Frankl scale appears that just over half of the study group of children - 56.7% have a positive attitude towards dental treatment, but a significantly large group has a negative attitude - 43.3% Among the negative group, 8% are strongly negative, which poses serious challenges for dentists and indicates approximately one in ten children exhibits problematic behavior in the office. The distribution of children using the CFSS-DS Scale reveals that about 47.3% show mild fear, 20.3% show a risk of dental anxiety, and 32,4% show dental fear.
Conclusion: The results indicate that there is a significant number of children who are highly anxious, warranting further studies to investigate the causes of dental fear.
Keywords: dental fear, dental anxiety, behavior in the dental office,
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Please cite this article as: Bakardjiev P, Georgieva M, De Carlos-Villafranca F, Mitova N. Assessment of behavior and fear of dental treatment of preschool children. J of IMAB. 2025 Apr-Jun;31(2):6238-6242. [Crossref - 10.5272/jimab.2025312.6238]
Correspondence to: Milena Georgieva Georgieva, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of dental medicine, Medical University – Sofia; 1, Georgi Sofiisky Str., Sofia, Bulgaria; E-mail: mmeni@abv.bg
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Received: 17 December 2024
Published online: 29 May 2025