Factors affecting dental fear in French children aged 5-12 years.

Background: While dental anxiety is often correlated with prior negative dental experience, prevention of dental anxiety should in theory include early exposure to the dental setting.

Objective: We set out to evaluate factors affecting dental fear in French children.

Methods: Dental fear was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (DF-VAS) in a group of 1303 French children (681 boys and 622 girls) aged 5-11 years (mean: 8.12 years, SD: 1.42 years). Indicators of caries and oral hygiene were evaluated on dental examination. Indicators of well-being related to oral health, dental experience, and oral health education were collected via a structured interview.

Results: Dental fear was scored low in 75.7% (DF-VAS 0-3), moderate in 16.7% (DF-VAS 4-6), and high in 7.6% (DF-VAS 7-10). DF-VAS decreased statistically with experience of a prior dental visit. Children who had at least one decayed tooth presented a higher level of dental fear than those with no decay, while children with fillings were significantly less anxious than those without previous dental care.

Conclusions: This study shows that for children aged 5-12 years, prior experience of the dental setting can act as a positive component of dental fear.