Characteristics and Risk Factors of High Caries Risk Group in 12-year-old Children Using Data from the 2015 Children’s Oral Health Survey / 대한소아치과학회지

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of the high caries risk group of 12-year-old children in Korea. Oral health status and interview data were collected from 23,089 children aged 12 years who participated in the 2015 Korean Children’s Oral Health Survey. Subjects were classified into high-risk and low-risk groups according to the Significant caries (SiC) index, and the influence of each variable was analyzed. As a result of the study, the SiC index of the high-risk group was 5.08, which was about 9.6 times higher than the lowrisk group. The risk factors associated with the high-risk group were in the order of the number of sealant teeth, dental treatment demand for the past year, perceived oral health status, gender, region, frequency of snack intake per day, and use of oral hygiene aids. In order to improve the oral health of children, appropriate preventive treatment and oral health education should be carried out with reference to the items indicated as risk factors in the high-risk group of dental caries.

Verification of the Korean Version of the Dental Fear Survey

BACKGROUND: Although studies on dental fear in relation to sex and age have been conducted, there have been few nationwide studies particularly on the youth sector. In addition, no validity and reliability verifications have been implemented for new research groups on the Korean version of the Dental Fear Survey (K-DFS). Therefore, this study aimed to apply the K-DFS developed in a previous study on Korean youth to draw conclusions on dental fear among the youth.METHODS: This study used the K-DFS, a Korean translation of Kleinknecht's Dental Fear Survey for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. This study selected 2,161 young people of various ages as participants and increased the validity of the research results by expanding nationwide the scope of the study area.RESULTS: Differences in fear levels according to sex were higher in boys fear behavior scores than in girls' regarding dental treatment (P < 0.05). Students with dental fear had higher scores on items associated with dental treatment and fear of dental stimuli compared with students without dental fear (P < 0.05). Differences were observed among the three groups (P < 0.05). However, the results of logistic regression analysis showed no statistically significant differences for dental visits based on sex, grade, and other subcomponents (P > 0.05).CONCLUSION: By verifying the validity of the newly developed K-DFS, this research confirmed its utility as a dental fear questionnaire. Therefore, there can be no objection that the grounds for criticism have been established according to conventional wisdom. In the future, however, developing and studying the limits of K-DFS that overcome the factors of dental fear, especially pain, will help reduce dental fear in adolescents.

Clinical Competency of Dental Hygiene Students to Manage Disabled Patients in Some Areas / 치위생과학회지

The demand for medical care and welfare for patients with disabilities is expanding, and healthcare professionals are also increasingly interested in the need for medical care for patients with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the competency of disabled patients' management and the education experience of dental hygiene students, who are the main players of oral health care for disabled patients. A total of 196 students in the dental hygiene department and 3rd and 4th grade students were surveyed using questionnaires. As a result, most of the students had a positive awareness of disabled patients; 84.7% answered with the need to train dental hygienists in specializing in handicapped patients, 76.5% were willing to attend seminars related to disabled patients after graduation, and 71.4% of the students provided dental treatment for patients with disabilities in curriculum and comparative curriculum. The students who provided treatment for disabled patients showed that their competence in most areas of knowledge of disabled patients, oral health education, and oral disease prevention was highly evaluated as significant. The competence of respondents who answered that the theoretical education was sufficient was significantly higher. Based on this, institutional support for the education of dentistry for disabled patients is needed, and sufficient theoretical education and practical training should be offered to foster personnel capable of contributing to the improvement in the oral health of patients with disabilities. In addition, in-depth discussions on the training of dental hygienists specialized in handicapped patients should be conducted.

Factors Affecting Dental Fear in Korean Adolescents

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dental fear experienced among Korean adolescents and to identify the relevant factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In order to compare the level of dental fear depending on the subjects' previous experience, descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Gender- and grade-dependent evaluation was performed according to the presence of their previous dental visit and dental fear. Subjective oral health status was also investigated. In order to determine the factors affecting dental fear, logistic regression analysis was performed. RESULT: Among the total of 333 subjects who had experienced dental fear, females were found to experience 1.766 times greater dental fear than males (P=0.007). The worse subjective perception of their oral health was associated with increase in the experience of dental fear by 1.245-fold (P=0.047). CONCLUSION: The dental fear was likely to be formed during the visit to the dentist's office or through previous experience of dental treatment. Therefore in order to reduce the fear associated with dental treatment in adolescents, establishemnt of a proper environment in the dental clinic and a patient management program are necessitated.

Dental fear & anxiety and dental pain in children and adolescents; a systemic review

BACKGROUND: There are few previous studies investigating the relationship of dental fear and anxiety (DFA) with dental pain among children and adolescents. To address this issue, we examined the literature published between November 1873 and May 2015 to evaluate the prevalence of DFA and dental pain among children and adolescents, and their relationships with age and sex. METHODS: We performed a broad search of the PubMed database using 3 combinations of the search terms dental fear, anxiety, and dental pain and prevalence. A large proportion of the identified articles could not be used for the review due to inadequate end points or measures, or because of poor study design. Thirty-two papers of acceptable quality were identified and reviewed. RESULTS: We found that the prevalence of DFA was estimated to be 10%, with a decrease in prevalence with age. It was more frequently seen in girls, and was related to dental pain. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that dental fear, anxiety, and pain are common, and several psychological factors are associated with their development. In order to better understand these relationships, further clinical evaluations and studies are required.

Reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Dental Fear Survey

BACKGROUND: Many people experience varying levels of discomfort when confronted with the prospect of dental treatment. Dental treatment can be a traumatic experience, especially for children and adolescents with dental anxiety. In this age group, dental fear causes a significant problem in dental management and has been related to severe dental caries and dental pain. The Dental Fear Survey ( DFS ) is the most widely used measure of dental fear. This study was undertaken to develop the Korean version of the DFS ( K-DFS ) and test its reliability and validity. METHODS: The K-DFS, which uses projective techniques to measure children's and adolescents' dental fear, was developed. The DFS was translated into Korean and participants were selected via convenience sampling. Reliability and validity were tested using data from a sample of 813 middle school students in Gyeonggi Province, selected from the Self questionnaire survey. The K-DFS was administered twice to 102 adolescents aged 12-15 years. RESULTS: The K-DFS had high internal consistency reliability (99.1%) but low test-retest reliability. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the Korean versions of the DFS have good internal consistency reliabilities and test-retest validities. However, we need to further examine the test-retest reliability of the K-DFS and replicate the current study in different samples covering various age groups.