A pilot study about emotional experiences by using CFSS-DS in young patients.

AIM

The aim of this work is to study fears and anxieties of school age Italian children regarding dental experience. In particular, to assess the prevalence of this phenomenon and understand its possible correlation with five different variables: sex, age, social context, previous dental experiences, and self-consciousness of fear.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

725 Italian children were divided according to five variables, and their anxiety studied through the self-filling of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS).

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The obtained results are descriptive and they are expressed as percentage values. For the study of the five variables considered, we have carried out a statistical regression analysis, by using the S-PLUS 6.0 Professional software.

RESULTS

26% of the total sample are anxious about the dental experience (total score CFSS-DS >39). The objects of greater anxiety are: fear of being admitted to hospital, injections, and the use of drilling instruments. Every variable considered in the selection of the sample was significant (p <0.05) in explaining and influencing the phenomenon "anxiety". In particular, the subjects aged 8, attending the third class of primary school were more anxious (they were also the most conscious of their emotional difficulties), and so little girls and subjects living in areas of low level of urbanisation and those who had never lived previous dental experiences.

CONCLUSION

The percentage of children who may exhibit more or less serious behaviours to dental treatments, including the borderline subjects, is above 50%. So it is easy to realise how this problem still exists in clinical dental reality, and it is fundamental for the dentist to understand and identify these frequent difficulties.