Investigation Of Preschoolers Dental Fear And Analysis Of Influencing Factors

Background Dental fear（DF）or Dental anxiety（DA）,refers to the psychological state of patients with specific tension,anxiety and even Fear for Dental treatment^[1].Children’s Dental Fear（CDF）or Dental Anxiety（CDA）^[2]refers to children’s dental fear or anxiety,which is manifested by reduced clinical tolerance,increased sensitivity,and even refusal of treatment.CDF is an important cause of children’s fear,panic,crying,struggle and even resistance to treatment of oral diseases,as well as an important cause of children’s oral health care and diagnosis and treatment disorders^[3].CDF has a high incidence,with the incidence reported by epidemiological surveys in various countries ranging from 6%-20%^[4]and in some areas of China ranging from 20%-50%^[5].The reasons for the high incidence of CDF in China may be as follows:on the one hand,it is determined by China’s current basic national conditions（such as large population base,gap between urban and rural areas and the opening of the two-child policy）;On the other hand,the oral health education level in China is relatively low,oral health education is not sufficient,some parents themselves lack of oral health awareness,but also to children’s dental caries（especially deciduous teeth）lack of attention.Preschoolers（3-6years old）are a special group.On the one hand,oral and maxillofacial diseases of preschoolers are not only of high incidence,but also of long-term negative effects on children’s physical and mental health if they are not treated in time.On the other hand,preschoolers are not fully developed physically and mentally,which makes them more prone to dental fear than adults and children of other ages.The influence of CDF on oral health maintenance,diagnosis and treatment of preschool children should not be ignored.However,domestic and foreign scholars lack of targeted research on the present situation and influencing factors of dental phobia in preschool children.Therefore,this study aims to investigate and analyze the etiology of dental phobia in preschool children,so as to provide important theoretical support for preventing and blocking the occurrence of dental phobia in preschool children.Objective The present situation of dental fear in preschoolers was described,and the related influencing factors of dental fear in preschoolers were analyzed from the aspects of social demography and oral health knowledge,so as to provide clinical basis for preventing the occurrence of dental fear in preschoolers.Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted to randomly select 411 preschoolers from the department of pediatric stomatology of the grade a general hospital in Anhui province;the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale（CFSS-DS Chinese version）and the Preschool Children’s Dental Fear Questionnaire were used to investigate the influencing factors and recorded.the number of deciduous teeth lost and filled（dmft）.The verified data was entered into Epi Data 3.1 and then imported into the SPSS21.0 database for data analysis.Single factor analysis and multifactor logistics regression analysis were used to analyze the influencing fear of dental phobia in preschool children.Results A total of 423 questionnaires were distributed,and 411 of them were effectively recovered,with an effective recovery rate of 97.2%.The subjects of this study were preschoolers aged 3-6 years,with an average age of（4.61±1.08）years.Among them,230 cases had dental fear and 181 cases had no dental fear.The incidence of dental fear in preschool children was 56.0%.The incidence of dental fear in preschool children was56.0%.One-way ANOVA showed that the statistical significance is provided from differences of dental fear among preschoolers in age,primary caregivers,family structure,family per capita monthly income,CDF treatment,daily oral health education,long-term medication history,first dental experience,oral health knowledge score and parental DF level（P<0.05）;And CDF was not correlated with caries in preschool children（P>0.05）.Meanwhile,logistic multiple regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of CDF for preschoolers included the primary caregivers,family per capita monthly income,parents’oral health knowledge score and parental DF level.Conclusion The occurrence of preschoolers dental fear is caused by a variety of reasons,such as:the primary caregivers,family per capita monthly income,parents’oral health knowledge score and parental DF level.The occurrence of preschoolers dental fear is caused by a variety of reasons,such as:the primary caregivers,family per capita monthly income,parents’oral health knowledge score and parental DF level,and it needs the joint efforts of children,parents and medical staff to reduce its incidence.