Prevalence of dental fear & its relationship to dental caries & gingival status among school children in Malappuram District, Kerala: a cross-sectional study

Child's dental fear has been reported as one of the reasons that increase, aggravate dental diseases and facilitate other oral diseases. This study is aimed to describeprevalence of dental fear and to assess the relationship between dental caries, gingival status and dental fear in 6-12year-old children at Malappuram District. The sample comprised of 300 children aged 6-12 years. The questionnaire examined the profile of participants and assessed their dental fear using the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). Children have “dental fear” when the total CFSS-DS score is greater than or equal to 53. By contrast, those without dental fear gain the total point which is less than 53. After completing the questionnaire, a dental examination was undertaken by using OHI-S Index, DMFT Index and Gingival Index. The 3 indices were found to be higher in fearful child [OHI-S Index (3.17± 0.45), Gingival Index (2.34 ± 0.45), DMFT Index (7.35± 1.65) when compared with fearless child. Our findings demonstrated the status of 6-12year-old children's dental fear at Malappuram district and reported that dental caries and gingival status had correlation with child dental fear score (p < 0.05).