Assessment of dental fear in children with molar-incisor hypomineralization

Introduction
Dental fear is a common unpleasant emotional response that occurs in situations related to dental treatment. Since children affected by molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH) receive much more dental treatment than their healthy peers, these children may have more dental fear and behavioral problems.

Objectives
The aim of the study was to assess the relation between the presence and severity of MIH and dental fear.

Material and methods
Study group involved a sample of 127 children, aged between 8 and 12 years with MIH, showing a high-risk of caries, and 99 children were included into control group. In the wake of intra-oral examination according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry guideline and DMFT/dmft indices, Children’s Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) was applied to each child. Mean value of independent groups for normally distributed data was compared using independent samples t-test. Spearman’s correlation was applied for correlations between DMFT/dmft scores and CFSS-DS scores. P-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results
The final number of individuals affected by MIH in this study was 127 with approximately equal numbers for each age group. The mean CFSS-DS scores were 31.41 ± 10.73 for the MIH-group, and 31.60 ± 6.21 for the controls, respectively. The mean values did not differ significantly between children with and without MIH (p = 0.870). There were also no statistically significant differences in severe MIH (31.38 ± 10.93) compared with the control group (31.60 ± 6.21) (p = 0.890).

Conclusions
The study’s findings revealed that there is no relation between the existence and severity of MIH and dental fear.