ArticleOral health & preventive dentistry2026
Dental Anxiety among Preschool Children Attending a Tertiary Children's Hospital: Associations with Previous Dental Experience, Parental Dental Anxiety, and Oral Health Indicators.
Article in Oral health & preventive dentistry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
purposeTo estimate the prevalence of child dental anxiety (CDA) and examine associations with previous dental experience, parental dental anxiety, caries, and oral hygiene among preschool children attending a tertiary children's hospital. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis cross-sectional study included 304 children aged 3-6 years. Parents completed the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) and Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and reported previous dental experience. CDA was defined as CFSS-DS ≥38. Caries and oral hygiene were assessed using the decayed, missing, and filled primary teeth (dmft) index and Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S). Multivariable logistic regression was performed.
resultsCDA was identified in 148 children (48.7%); receiving an injection was the item most frequently rated as fearful. Negative previous dental experience was associated with higher odds of CDA than no prior dental visit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.41, 95% CI: 2.86-14.34). Greater dmft was associated with higher odds (per unit; aOR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.15-1.41), whereas older age was associated with lower odds (per year; aOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.35-0.67). Parental education at master's level or above was also associated with lower odds. Adjusted linear associations of parental MDAS and OHI-S were not statistically significant.
conclusionCDA was common in this hospital-based preschool sample. Negative previous dental experience and greater caries experience were associated with higher odds, whereas older age was associated with lower odds. Dental history and caries assessment may support individualized treatment preparation.
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