ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to compare dental fear in Turkish children to whom the “tell-show-do” technique was applied with those to whom it was not. The degrees of dental fear of the children were measured by Frankl Behavior Rating (FS) and Sound- Eye-Motor (SEM) scales during their first appointment with a dentist. Eightyeight children (44 male, 44 female) admitted to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry were the participants in this study. The assessment of the behavior of each child was made using the FS and by taking physiological measures during their first appointment with a dentist. Patients’ behavior during each treatment was evaluated using the SEM scale. All dental treatments and “tell-show-do” techniques were applied by the same certified examiner, with the FS and SEM scales being applied by a second, independently certified examiner. Chi-square tests were used to compare the two groups of children based on exposure to the “tell-show-do” technique. All statistical analyses and calculations were performed using SPSS Statistics for Windows (SPSS, Ver. 17.0, Chicago, IL., USA). There were significant group differences in both FS and SEM scale scores (p < 0.05). The “tell-show-do” technique is a viable alternative to pharmacological interventions with respect to reducing dental fear in Turkish children.