Cooperation during dental treatment: the Children's Fear Survey Schedule in Japanese children

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate dental fear and cooperation during dental treatment using the Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). METHODS: From the behaviour assessment of regular patients of the Pediatric Dental Clinic in Niigata University Dental Hospital (aged 5-12 years old), the patients were classified into two groups: uncooperative and cooperative. CFSS-DS questionnaires were sent to a total of 295 patients, 186 of which were returned, 61 from the uncooperative group and 125 from the cooperative group. RESULTS: In the uncooperative and the cooperative groups, the CFSS-DS mean total scores were 31.79 and 24.02 (P < 0.05), respectively, and the ratios of the patients whose scores were equal to or more than 35 were 36.1 and 11.2%, respectively. Fear of 'injections' and 'the dentist drilling' had high scores in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that there are many uncooperative patients with low dental fear and cooperative patients with high dental fear.