{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:05:02Z","timestamp":1792789502832,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"General Research Fund","award":["17100019"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["17100019"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Limited data are available regarding the patient-based outcomes of SDF therapy in the kindergarten setting. This study aims to evaluate the dental fear and anxiety (DFA) of preschool children after participating in a school-based outreach service using SDF to arrest early childhood caries (ECC). The study recruited 3- to 5-year-old children with untreated ECC. A trained dentist performed a dental examination and applied SDF therapy to the carious lesions. ECC experience was measured using the dmft index. Questionnaires for parents were used to collect the children\u2019s demographic information and their dental treatment experiences. The children\u2019s DFA before and immediately after SDF therapy was assessed using the self-reported Facial Image Scale (FIS) on a Likert scale of 1 (very happy) to 5 (very distressed). The association between the children\u2019s DFA after SDF therapy and the potentially related factors, including demographic background, caries experience, and DFA before SDF therapy, were analysed using bivariate analysis. Three hundred and forty children (187 boys, 55%) joined this study. Their mean (SD) age and dmft scores were 4.8 (0.9) and 4.6 (3.6), respectively. Most of them (269\/340, 79%) never had a dental visit. After SDF therapy, 86% (294\/340) of the children exhibited no or low DFA (FIS \u2264 3), whereas 14% (46\/340) reported high DFA (FIS &gt; 3). No factor was associated with children\u2019s DFA after SDF therapy (p &gt; 0.05). This study showed most preschool children with ECC exhibited no or low DFA after SDF therapy in a school setting.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph20054467","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,3]],"date-time":"2023-03-03T02:03:08Z","timestamp":1677808988000},"page":"4467","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Dental Fear and Anxiety of Chinese Preschool Children in a School-Based Outreach Service Using Silver Diamine Fluoride for Caries Control: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Ivy Guofang","family":"Sun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hollis Haotian","family":"Chai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3618-0619","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edward Chin Man","family":"Lo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8167-0430","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chun Hung","family":"Chu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3819-3560","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Duangporn","family":"Duangthip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"192","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1752-7325.1999.tb03268.x","article-title":"Diagnosing and reporting early childhood caries for research purposes. 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