Abstract：Objective To explore the current situation of dental phobia in preschool children and its correlation with parenting style and children’s temperament characteristics so as to provide references for prevention and treatment of dental phobia in preschoolers. Methods Convenience sampling method was used to select 312 preschool children admitted to the Outpatient Department of Stomatology of Hunan Children’s Hospital from January to May 2022 as the research subjects. The Chinese version of the Children’s Fear survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) was used to assess the level of dental fear in thepreschoolers, and the Egna Minnen Betrffende Uppfostran for Children (EMBU-C) was employed to assess parenting style in the preschoolers. The Chinese Preschool Children Temperament Scale (CPTS) was applied to assessing temperament characteristics of the preschoolers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the factors influencing dental fear in the preschoolers. Results The total score of CFSS-DS in 312 preschoolers was (45.62±6.57), of which 165 had dental fear, with the incidence rate of 52.88% (165/312). There was a statistically significant difference in the incidence rate of dental fear among the preschoolers with different parenting styles (P<0.05). Preschoolers with emotional warm had the lowest incidence rate of dental fear (40.43%, 57/141), while overprotective type preschoolers had the highest incidence rate of dental fear (76.19%, 16/21). The difference in the incidence rate of dental phobia in preschoolers with different temperament characteristics was statisticallysignificant (P<0.05). The incidence rate of dental fear was the lowest in easy-going preschoolers (46.97%, 62/132), but the highest in troublesome preschoolers (76.19%, 31/42). Univariate analysis showed that there were statistically significantdifferences in the incidence rate of dental fear among preschoolers with different ages, as only children or not, with or without dental treatment experience, with different parental educational levels, with different family monthly incomes, and received oral health education or not (all P<0.05). The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that young age of 3-4 years (OR=3.028, 95%CI:1.787-5.131), 4-5 years old (OR=2.370, 95%CI:1.519-3.698), parental educational level of high school and below (OR=2.392, 95%CI:1.491-3.836), monthly household income ≤ 8,000 yuan (OR=3.333, 95%CI:1.914-5.805), monthly household income 9,000-15,000 yuan (OR=2.675, 95%CI:1.655-4.324), anxiety parenting style (OR=2.380, 95%CI:1.543-3.670), rejection parenting style (OR=2.497, 95%CI:1.606-3.881), overprotective parenting style (OR=3.108, 95%CI:1.878-5.143) and negative temperament characteristics (OR=3.377, 95%CI:1.985-5.744) were the factors influencing the occurrence of dental phobia in the preschoolers (all P<0.05). Conclusion Dental fear is common in the preschoolers, and it is closely related to parenting style and temperament characteristics. Emotional warm parenting style can be cultivated, and targeted education methods can be adopted according to different temperament characteristics, thereby reducing the occurrence of dental fear in the preschoolers.
2023, Vol. 30 
