Correlation of general anxiety and dental anxiety in children aged 3 to 5 years: A clinical survey.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dental anxiety in a group of children aged 3 to 5 years and to explore the relationships between dental anxiety and general fearful nature of the child. MATERIALS & METHODS A total of 250 children were selected for the study after due selection via inclusion criteria. Pre-school anxiety scale by Spence and Rapee (1999) was used to assess the general fear of the child and was filled by the parent during the first visit. Venham's anxiety scale was used to assess the dental anxiety which was seen during routine dental examination of the child on his first visit. RESULTS The results were statistically analyzed using Chi square test and Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation. CONCLUSION It was concluded that 24% of children showed association between high level of dental anxiety and high level of general fear; 56% of children also exhibited high level of dental anxiety with moderate score of general fear and 20% of children exhibited positive correlation between low level of dental anxiety and fear. How to cite this article: Nigam AG, Marwah N, Goenka P, Chaudhry A. Correlation of general anxiety and dental anxiety in children aged 3 to 5 years: A clinical survey. J Int Oral Health 2013;5(6):18-24 .