Dental fear in children with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the level of dental fear in children with a cleft lip and/or palate, to compare this level with that of a normative group testing the hypothesis that children with a cleft lip and/or palate have a higher level of dental anxiety than children from the general population, and to assess the relation between dental fear and coping.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

VU Medical Centre University Amsterdam.

PATIENTS: A total of 110 children (4 to 12 years old, 50 girls) with a cleft lip and/or palate.

INTERVENTIONS: Dental fear in the study group was compared with a normative group of Dutch children.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dental fear was investigated using the parental version of the dental subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule for children aged 4 and 5 years old (n = 36). Also the Inventory of Stressful Situations was completed. Children aged 6 to 12 years old also completed the Dental Cope Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Young children with a cleft lip and/or palate experience more dental fear compared with children in a normative control group (Children's Fear Survey Schedule dental subscale scores: 30.3 ± 14.6 compared with 24.6 ± 8.6, p < .01). A weak correlation was found between the child's dental anxiety (Children's Fear Survey Schedule dental subscale) and his or her coping behavior (Dental Coping Questionnaire) (r = .196 p < .05). A clear correlation exists between the total Inventory of Stressful Situations and total Children's Fear Survey Schedule scores of the youngest age group (r = .507 p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support the hypothesis that dental anxiety is related to a higher level of exposure to medical interventions at a young age.