The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between dental fear of young adults and their childhood dental histories.
The subjects were divided into two groups, Group 1 and Group 2 based on their dental experiences. The subjects of Group 1 comprised 45 patients (with a mean age of 16.6) who had undergone periodical examinations at the Pediatric Dental Clinic of Niigata University Dental Hospital for more than 10 years. The subjects of Group 2 comprised 51 patients (with a mean age of 17.5) who had never undergone periodical examinations at our clinic since they were 5 years old. All of the subjects of both groups had undergone dental treatment at our clinic using a restraining device below the age of 4. The Dental Fear Survey (DFS) was conducted with the subjects by mail. Dental experiences of all of the responding subjects were checked according to their dental charts. We then clarified the relationship between dental histories and DFS scores.
The mean DFS scores of Group 1 and Group 2 were 34.6 and 45.4, respectively. The score of Group 1 was significantly lower than that of Group 2 (p<0.01). Between the two groups, there was no difference in dental experience below the age of 4. Although all of the subjects of the both groups had been subjected to physical immobilization during dental treatment below the age of 4, the mean score of Group 1 was lower than that of Group 2. The mean score of Group 2 was indeed almost the same as that of the Japanese general public (This being 45.2, as we reported in the previous study). According to the findings, the amount of dental fear in young adulthood did not seem to be affected by dental experiences below the age of 4.
Additionally, we were not able to find any dental procedure which was closely related to the DFS score based on regression analysis. The results showed the possibility that periodical examinations may allay the dental fear of child patients. In considering behavior management in pediatric dentistry, we should therefore carefully cope not only with uncooperative patients in early childhood but also with school age patients and young adult during the periodical visits.