ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOR AND FEAR OF DENTAL TREATMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Introduction: Fear of dental treatment is an increasingly common problem in pediatric dentistry. Anxious patients tend to overestimate pain and discomfort during treatment, postpone or reschedule appointments, which results in negative consequences for their oral health. Aim: To determine the relative share of children with problematic behavior in the dental office between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Materials and methods: The subjects of the study were 300 children between 4 and 6 years of age. A comprehensive dental examination and professional oral hygiene were carried out on each child, during which the child's behavior was assessed using psychological methods - Frankl Scale and self-assessment methods related to dental fear - a pictorial modified version of the questionnaire of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). Results: Assessment of children's behavior according to the Frankl scale appears that just over half of the study group of children - 56.7% have a positive attitude towards dental treatment, but a significantly large group has a negative attitude - 43.3% Among the negative group, 8% are strongly negative, which poses serious challenges for dentists and indicates approximately one in ten children exhibits problematic behavior in the office. The distribution of children using the CFSS-DS Scale reveals that about 47.3% show mild fear, 20.3% show a risk of dental anxiety, and 32,4% show dental fear. Conclusion: The results indicate that there is a significant number of children who are highly anxious, warranting further studies to investigate the causes of dental fear.