Dental Fear in Children: Association with Dental Caries and Molar Incisor Hypomineralization

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental fear and to evaluate its association with dental caries and molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) in schoolchildren aged 8-10 years from a municipality in Northeastern Brazil. Data from 466 students enrolled in urban public schools in a cross-sectional study were collected. Parents/guardians answered a questionnaire addressing sociodemographic characteristics, dental fear was measured by means of the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) and clinical examinations were performed by three calibrated examiners for diagnosis of dental caries, using the International Caries Detection & Assessment System - ICDAS II and a previously validated index for MIH. Descriptive data analysis was performed, and associations between dental fear, dental caries and MIH were analyzed using robust Poisson regression for complex samples (p