OBJECTIVETo evaluate the relationship between children's temperament and dental fear.

METHODS254 children(aged 4-6 years) during first dental treatment took part in the investigation. Their parents answered the Chinese preschool children's temperament scales (CPTS). The Frankl method was used to classify the degree of the children's dental fear. The K independent samples test and One-way ANOVA test were performed to find the differences of the type of temperament and the scores of temperament dimension among three groups.

RESULTSAmong the 254 children(aged 4-6 years), 104 had no fear, 80 had fear and 70 had extreme fear. The incidence of dental fear in children was 59.06%. There were no statistical differences (P > 0.05) of dental fear between boys and girls. There were statistically significant differences for the type of temperament among no fear group, fear group and extreme fear group. The scores of adaptability and quality of mood were higher in the extreme fear group and fear group than that in the no fear group. The differences in scores of adaptability and quality of mood was statistically significant between the extreme fear group and no fear group. But the scores of other seven temperament dimensions had no statistical significant differences among three groups.

CONCLUSIONChildren's dental fear is correlated to their temperaments. The tendencies of negative mood and slow adaptability should be considered that the patients were at risk of developing dental fear problem.