Abstract
The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship in children between dental fear and the noise of the dental drill. The subjects consisted of 104 patients (52 males and 52 females) at the Pediatric Dental Clinic of Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital. They ranged from 4 to 15years of age (The mean age being 8.5). The patients were allocated into two groups based on their age: The low-age group (from 4 to 8 years of age) and the high-age group (from 9 to 15 years of age). The patients themselves evaluated their impressions of 3 sounds: The control sound (familiar music), thunderstorms and the noise of the dental drill, by using the Face Pain Rating Scale (FS). The CFSS-DS questionnaires were then used to assess their dental fear.
The results were as follows:
1. In both the low-age and the high-age groups the mean scores of FS with respect to the sound of thunderstorms and the noise of the dental drill were higher than those of the control sound. It was suggested that the noise of the dental drill was squeakier than control music from the child point of view.
2. The results from factor analysis with varimax rotation indicated that the noise of the dental drill in the low-age group was related to the sound of thunderstorms. On the other hand, in the high-age group, the noise showed a positive relationship to the CFSS-DS score as the amount of dental fear.
3. In the low-age group, dental experience tended to raise the score of the impression of pain when hearing the noise of the dental drill. The CFSS-DS score, however, showed a negative relation to the age of the patients. These findings suggest that in the low-age group, older patients have a lower fear toward the dentist and dental treatment, although they have feelings of pain with respect to the noise of the dental drill.
4. The present investigation shows that female patients in childhood have higher sensitivity to the noise of the dental drill.
