• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2015

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.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.369-376
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• 2015

The purposes of this study were to assess dental fear and anxiety level of patients attending a dental clinic using the dental fear survey (DFS) scale, to apply interventions chosen by patients for reducing dental fear and anxiety and measure their effects. This study surveyed 34 patients who visited a dental clinic in Seoul about their self-rated health and their experience of dental fear, and measured the level of dental fear using DFS. Trained dental hygienists applied interventions desired by the patients for reducing dental fear and anxiety and, for each intervention, examined the patients' satisfaction (very helpful [5 point]~not helpful at all [1 point]). Collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 21.0 through independent t-test or one-way ANOVA for difference in level of fear according to related characteristics, and through Wilcoxon signed rank test for comparison between before and after the intervention. The subjects' mean level of fear (DFS score) was 44.53, which was an average level, and the level of dental fear was relatively high for stimulus-response (2.72). The level of dental fear was higher in those who had experienced pains or indirect dental fear from dental treatment in the past, and those whose subjectively perceived health state was poor (p<0.05). With regard to the applied dental fear intervention, 'Helpful (3.57)' was the most common answer. Overall satisfaction before and after the application of dental fear intervention was generally high as 4.37 and 4.35, respectively, but it decreased slightly after the intervention. In order to lower the level of dental fear, it is considered effective to survey not only the level of dental fear but also patients' need of dental fear interventions and to apply a suitable intervention. It is also required to educate dental workers and to develop related manuals.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.118-126
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• 2008

Dental fear is one of the main barriers to the use of dental services, leading patients to avoid periodical dental check-ups or treatments, thus making oral health worse, and sometimes becoming the reason that dental professionals fail control the behavior of patients. Therefore, a dental fear must be controlled carefully in order to promote oral health and effective dental treatment. This study was taken from 313 people 13 to 18 year olds to measure their levels of dental fear. After analyzing the characteristics of dental fear and its related factors, as well as other factors which influence dental fear, we acquired the following results. 1. The level of dental fear was high, compared with advanced countries with relatively good oral health. 2. The strongest physiological response experienced during a dental treatment was the tension of muscles. These dental fears were mainly related to anesthetic needles and drills. 3. Levels of dental fear became higher, the number of times for the dental services utilization had reduced, avoid regular dental examination and perceived oral disease symptoms increased. 4. One of the biggest influences on dental fears turns out to be direct painful experiences and beliefs about dentists.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.193-212
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• 2023

It is important to understand patients' anxiety and fear about dental treatment. A patient's anxiety can be quantified through a self-report questionnaire, and many related scales have been developed. In this review, I tried to find out which scale is most suitable for the patient's dental anxiety and fear evaluation by examining the contents of previously developed scales and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each scale.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.369-380
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• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of preventive treatment experience on scaling fear level. Methods: A total of 259 adults who had visited the dental clinic were analyzed. The results were summarized as follows. Statistical analysis of the collected data was performed using the SPSS WIN 20.0 statistical program. The general characteristics, scaling experience, and the characteristics of the subjects were analyzed. Frequency of scaling according to general characteristics was analyzed by independent sample t-test, Scaling fears according to treatment experience were tested by t-test. Correlation analysis was performed for scaling fears according to the reliability of dental hygienist. Regression analysis was carried out to investigate factors affecting scaling fear. Results: Level of fear during scaling was higher in females (3.03) than in males (2.54) and that after scaling was scored higher in females (2.68) than in males (2.34) by general characteristics (p<0.001). The adults who were not healthy in oral health showed the highest levels of fear during (3.29) and after (3.00) scaling by oral health status (p<0.001). Adults who had brushing education experience showed lower fear level than those who did not after scaling (p<0.01) according to the experiences of preventive treatments. With respect to the correlation of trust level to the dental hygienists with the scaling fears, it showed higher in the trust level (-0.688) as lower level of scaling fear (-0.642) in the scaling (p<0.01). Confidence level of dental hygienist (-0.661), brushing education experience (-0.121), and oral health status (-0.121) were influenced upon the regression analysis. Conclusions: Oral health education and dental hygiene education are increasing. It is thought that active efforts are needed to promote and maintain oral health.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.203-211
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to determine the association of some adult dental fear and depression, and stress. Among the patients who came to the dental clinic for periodontal treatment, 68 patients who agreed to participate in the study and who met the selection criteria were included. Dental fear, depression symptom questionnaire, salivary cortisol, which can objectively evaluate blood pressure, pulse, and stress. The results of the analysis showed that depressive symptom was related to 'delayed treatment promise', 'cancellation of treatment appointment', 'increased muscle tension', 'rapid breathing when entering dentistry', 'fear when waiting in the waiting room', 'fear when you smell the hospital', 'fear when looking at the dental clinic', 'fear when seeing the anesthetic needle', 'fear when tooth whistle was heard', 'fear when teeth were removed', and 'total fear of dentistry'(p<0.05). Stress symptoms were higher in 'having sweated in the dentist', 'faster pulse', 'fear of entering the dentist' and 'total fear of the dentist'(p<0.05). Based on these results, it is necessary to study the effective methods to control the depressive symptoms and stress of patients who visit dental clinics, and it seems that continuous management is needed to prepare methods such as relaxation therapy for dental fear patients.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.67-80
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• 2014

Objectives: This study is aimed to analyze the influential factors on the fear that college students and elderly people feel during the dental treatment and provide basic data needed to develop a plan which can lead them to have a positive perspective on dentistry. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 241 outpatients (39 college students, 202 elderly people) visiting dental clinic of 'K' University Hospital in Seoul from January to April, 2013. It was filled in a self-administered manner and collected right away. Results: factor analysis, three factors were configured when the factors with 1.0 or higher of eigenvalue were extracted using 19 questions through which dental fear and anxiety were measured against college students and elderly people. The questionnaires were classified into three categories: Factor I (stimulus response), Factor II (avoidance of the treatment) and Factor III (physiological response which occurs when a patient feels fear). As a result, it was confirmed that the questionnaire tool is highly feasible. In college students, the responses they felt during the dental treatment in the said three factors were as follows: 52.00% in Factor II, 14.14% in Factor II and 6.99% in Factor III (73.129% in total). In elderly people, on the contrary, they were 52.41% in Factor I, 10.57% in Factor II and 7.98% in Factor III (70.958% in total), lower than the college student group. Conclusions: This study is significant in that it confirmed complex relations between dental fear and related variables against college students and elderly people.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.231-245
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• 2007

This study aims to discuss plans to improve the satisfaction level of dental services by understanding characters of beliefs about dental manpower and analyzing its related factors. Data were collected by structured questionnaire whose subjects consist of 1607 persons from 13 years old to 69 years old, who have ever experienced dental institution. Both univariate and biovariate analyses were employed to analyze level of dentist and dental hygienist's beliefs and its related factors and the results gained from the surveys and search are as follows. 1. Among the questions to measure dentist's beliefs, 'Respect for patients' was evaluated as the best, and the lowest items were 'not-hopeful explanation about prognosis of dental treatment', 'satisfactory explanation' and 'whether treatments are stopped by pains or not'. In addition, among questions to measure dental hygienist's beliefs, 'kindly welcome' and 'detailed explanations about medical directions' are the items evaluated as the best and 'notice of waiting time' marked the lowest evaluation. 2. The factors related to beliefs about dentists were age, ache experiences, dental fear, self-reported dental health status, frequence and primary purposes of the visits dental institutions, elapsed time from recently visited, present of favorite dental clinic to visit regularly. 3. The factors related to beliefs about dental hygienists were age, education, occupation, ache experiences, frequence and primary purposes of the visits dental institutions, periodic check of teeth, present of favorite dental clinic to visit regularly. 4. Direct painful, painful treatment experience under insufficient local anesthetic, indirect painful experience and dental fear were positively correlated. And the relationships were positive between ache experiences, dental fear and self-reported dental health status, but relationships were negative between ache experiences, dental fear and dentist! dental hygienist's beliefs.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.539-543
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• 2009

This study lays its purpose on finding general trends in dental fear among adolescences at 15~17 years of age, differences in levels of dental fear according to temperament, and their causal relationships. The researcher made use of a questionnaire including tools questionnaire of survey - DFS, EAS - and then analyzed covariate structure modeling by using LISREL 8.12 after conducting univariate analysis by employing SPSS. Cronbach's reliability coefficients showed higher in DFS(0.957), EAS(0.916), and GFS (0.910), and females rather than males showed higher levels of dental fear, and of types of traits, trait III showed lower levels of dental fear than the others, and also the less perceived dental health status and the more recent experience in pain when treating dental disease and also the more broken dental appointments, the higher levels of dental fear showed with statistical significance. In addition, there showed a positive correlation between fear of dental treatment, a distrust of dentists, and a general feeling of fear.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.371-379
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between quality of sleep and dental fear in implant surgery patients. Methods : A self-reported questionnaire was filled out by 153 implant patients from December 2012 to February 2013 in dental clinics and hospitals in Busan and Changwon. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression analysis using SAS version 9.20. Results : The quality of sleep in the implant patients was $41.0{\pm}6.0$. The systemic diseases influenced on the quality of sleep and dental fear also affected the quality of sleep. Conclusions : The results of the analysis of a relationship between the fear perception of dental implant surgery patients and the quality of their sleep showed that the patients with systemic diseases, the patients with a fear by the physical stimulation relating to implant treatment showed the low quality of sleep.