[Fear and dental apprehension among school-age children in a rural district].

Abstract

The article deals with the relationships between general fear, clinical dental anxiety, and self-reported dental anxiety. 157 elementary school children aged 10-13 participated in the investigation. The children answered Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS), and Dental Tension Scale (DTS), constructed for the investigation by the present author. The first of three DTS questions is "Are you afraid of going to the dentist?" (DTS1). 155 children were given scores for clinical behavior (KAB in text and tables). 118 children, aged 10-12, also answered a shortened version of the Geer Fear Scale (GFS), scoring 15 to 60 in the direction of increasing general fear. CDAS and DTS have been dealt with earlier. There was weak but significant correlation between clinical behavior and self-reported dental anxiety. There were no direct associations between general fear and clinical or self-reported dental anxiety. However, there was a significant correlation between general fear and self-reported dental anxiety for the girls who showed signs of clinical anxiety. The results give support to DTS1 being a valid measure of the overall state dental anxiety.