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. 2025 May 26;8(5):e70879.
doi: 10.1002/hsr2.70879. eCollection 2025 May.

Correlation Between Child's Dental Fear and Anxiety Symptoms and Evaluating Factors Associated With Dental Fear

Pegah Farzanegan  1   2 , Maryam Ghasempour  2   3 , Armon Massoodi  2   4 , Hoda Shirafkan  2   4
Affiliations

Correlation Between Child's Dental Fear and Anxiety Symptoms and Evaluating Factors Associated With Dental Fear

Pegah Farzanegan et al. Health Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Background and aims: This study aimed to assess the correlation between dental fear and anxiety problems and evaluate factors associated with dental fear.

Methods: In this study, we utilized the standard Persian version of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) questionnaire and the Persian version of Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) questionnaire to explore children's dental fear and anxiety problems, respectively. Questionnaires were completed by 290 children aged 8-12 years who visited Pediatrics Department of Babol Dental Clinic and private pediatric offices. Demographic characteristics were also recorded. The data were analyzed by the one-way ANOVA, independent t-test (α = 0.05), Pearson correlation, and logistic regression test using SPSS version 26.

Results: In this study, 151 boys and 139 girls were included. Based on the CFSS-DS questionnaire, 8.6% of children had dental fear (Scores > 38). Dental fear correlated with all aspects of anxiety symptoms (p < 0.05). There were significant correlations between children's age (p = 0.019) and location of dental treatment (p = 0.002) with their dental fear scores. Having a housewife mother is a protective factor in child's dental fear (OR = 0.380, CI = 0.989-0.047, and p = 0.047).

Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that dental fear and anxiety problems correlate with each other, and factors such as child's age, the location of dental treatment, and having a housewife mother serve as prominent factors contributing to dental fear of children.

Keywords: child; dental anxiety; fear; pediatric dentistry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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