Common use of a Fear Survey Schedule for assessment of dental fear among children and adults

Prevalence of Dental Fear and Anxiety and Its Triggering Factors in the Dental Office among School-going Children in Al Ahsa

Aims and objectives

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted. Eight hundred and sixteen, 7–12-year-old children studying in government and private schools spread across the city of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, participated in the study. A self-reported questionnaire with 15 close-ended questions pertaining to DFA in logical order was distributed to all the participants. Each question had three options as responses with images. The children were asked to choose the option that best fitted their response.

Results and Conclusion

The prevalence of DFA among boys and girls was found to be 50.4 and 71.28%, respectively. The majority of the boys studying in government schools reported DFA when informed about the treatment in advance, while most of those studying in private schools reported DFA at the sight of the dental chair and dental injections, while walking into the clinic, in the waiting room, when informed about the treatment in advance and their tooth being drilled. On the contrary, the responses were very similar among girls irrespective of their school. Most of the boys and girls did not experience any DFA when their parents were allowed to accompany them. Hence, a tailor-made approach for the management of the child in the dental office is warranted.

Clinical significance

A tailor-made approach for the management of DFA in the dental office plays a significant role in successful treatment.

How to cite this article

Alshuaibi AF, Aldarwish M, Almulhim AN, et al. Prevalence of Dental Fear and Anxiety and Its Triggering Factors in the Dental Office among School-going Children in Al Ahsa. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(2):286–292.

Behaviour and Anxiety Management of Paediatric Dental Patients through Virtual Reality: A Randomised Clinical Trial

Clinicians should appreciate the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) headsets for managing both the anxiety and the behaviour of non-cooperative paediatric patients who require treatment over several dental appointments. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of using a VR headset as a distraction for managing the anxiety and behaviour of paediatric patients during their dental treatment. Eighty patients, aged between five and ten years old and who required dental treatment over three or more appointments, were randomly allocated into two groups. One group used a VR headset during all their appointments, and the other one did not use any distraction technique. The patients were asked to take a Facial Image Scale Test during their first and last appointments to assess their level of anxiety. Additionally, the dentist completed the Frankl Test to quantify the child's behaviour at the beginning and the end of their treatment. The results obtained, both from the group using the VR headset and from the control group, were compared using the chi-square test. The use of a VR headset during dental treatment significantly reduced anxiety (95% of the children were happy) and improved behaviour (100% positive behaviour) as compared with the control group (40% and 57.5%, respectively). A VR headset can effectively distract a paediatric patient, helping to reduce anxiety and manage behaviour during dental treatment.

Assessing dental anxiety in young girls in KSA

Objective

To evaluate the potential causative factors of dental anxiety in girls aged 6–14 years in Almadinah Almunawwarah, KSA.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted with a random sample of school girls aged 6–14 years. The participants' perceptions were captured using the self-administered Abeer Children Dental Anxiety Scale.

Results

There were 118 respondents and the results showed 47.6% prevalence of dental anxiety. Dental extraction was reported as the most common cause for dental anxiety (18.6%), followed by the feeling of numbness after the application of dental anaesthesia (17.8%). There was no significant relationship between dental anxiety and cognition. The highest score of dental anxiety was found in children aged 7–9 years, of which 35.6% (42/118) had previously never visited a dentist. A negative correlation between dental anxiety scores and age was reported with a Pearson correlation coefficient of −0.026.

Conclusions

Dental extraction, anaesthesia, and numbness were the most frequent causative factors of dental anxiety that appear to decrease in frequency as the child gets older. However, the highest score of dental anxiety was reported in 7- to 9-year-old girls.

Development of the first Arabic cognitive dental anxiety scale for children and young adults

AIM: To validate the Arabic version of abeer children dental anxiety scale.

METHODS: Two ethical approvals for this study were obtained from United Arab Emirates, Ministry of Health and Dubai Health Authority; reference number: 2011/57. The Abeer children dental anxiety scale (ACDAS) was translated from English to Arabic by the native speaker chief investigator, and then back translated by another native speaker in Dubai (AS) to ensure comparability with the original one. Part C of ACDAS was excluded for the schoolchildren because those questions were only applicable for children at the dentist with their parents or legal guardian. A total of 355 children (6 years and over) were involved in this study; 184 in Dubai, 96 from the Religious International Institute for boys and 88 from Al Khansaa Middle School for girls. A sample of 171 children was assessed for external validity (generalizability) from two schools in different areas of London in the United Kingdom.

RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the cut-off ≥ 26 for ACDAS gave the optimal results for sensitivity = 90% (95%CI: 81.2%- 95.6%), and specificity = 86.6% (95%CI: 78.2%- 92.7%), with AUROC = 0.93 (95%CI: 0.90-0.97). Cronbach’s Alpha (α) was 0.90 which indicated good internal consistency. Results of the external validity assessing the agreement between ACDAS and dental subscale of the children's fear survey schedule was substantial for the East London school (κ = 0.68, 95%CI: 0.53-0.843); sensitivity = 92.9% (95%CI: 82.7%-98.0%); specificity = 73.5% (95%CI: 55.6%-87.1%) and almost perfect for the Central London school (κ = 0.79; 95%CI: 0.70-0.88); sensitivity = 96.4% (95%CI: 81.7%-99.9%); specificity = 65.9%, (95%CI: 57.4%-73.8%).

CONCLUSION: The Arabic ACDAS is a valid cognitive scale to measure dental anxiety for children age 6 years or over.