Dental fear among adolescents with cleft.

Background: Dental fear is a prevalent phenomenon among children and adolescents globally.

Aim: To investigate dental fear among 18-year-olds with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) at their final follow-up cleft clinic visit, and to evaluate the association between dental fear and OHRQoL.

Design: This cross-sectional study included the cohort of children with CLP treated at the Oulu University Hospital Cleft Lip and Palate Center, in northern Finland since 1995. A total of 62 of 64 individuals participated in this study. The validated Finnish version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) was used to assess OHRQoL. Dental fear was studied using the validated Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and cognitive vulnerability model (CVM).

Results: Almost two fifths of the participants reported moderate dental fear. Participants with cleft including lip and participants reporting impact on OHRQoL reported higher mean MDAS scores. In an unadjusted model, adolescents with cleft including lip had risk for higher dental MDAS scores compared with the ones with cleft including only palate.

Conclusions: Dental fear is common among adolescents with CLP, specifically among those with clefts involving the lip. OHRQoL and dental fear seem to be associated.