Table 5.

Factor analysis and scores of items with respect to the factors in the group aged 8–10 years

Rotated CFSS–DS factor matrix			Factors (% total scale variance)				Mean CFSS-DS score of children aged 8–10 years old
	Items in CFSS-DS		I (22.6)	II (17.3)	III (12.1)	IV (7.9)	2008–2011	2012–2014	2015–2017
I	Highly invasive dental procedures						12.63	12.06	11.08
	1	Dentists	0.492	0.451	0.285	0.031
	8	Dentist drilling	0.816	0.187	0.123	0.074
	9	Sight of the dentist drilling	0.792	0.113	0.084	0.165
	10	Noise of the dentist drilling	0.608	0.242	0.136	0.045
	11	Having somebody put instruments in your mouth	0.714	0.138	0.202	0.087
	12	Choking	0.513	0.311	−0.146	0.378
	15	Having the nurse clean your teeth	0.442	0.191	0.285	0.011
II	General medical aspects of treatment						5.31	6.21	5.23
	2	Doctors	0.341	0.568	0.099	0.151
	3	Injections	0.124	0.633	0.021	0.012
	13	Having to go to the hospital	0.169	0.696	0.118	0.156
	14	People in white uniforms	0.086	0.618	0.304	0.077
III	Less invasive procedures and potential ‘victimisation’						4.15	3.01	2.03*
	4	Having someone examine your mouth	0.256	0.303	0.764	0.099
	5	Having to open your mouth	0.233	0.034	0.657	0.113
IV	Distrust of strangers or unfamiliar objects						2.59	2.72	2.56
	6	Having a stranger touch you	0.201	0.189	−0.037	0.821
	7	Having somebody look at you	0.021	0.016	0.270	0.807

*Statistically significant (p<0.05).

CFSS-DS, Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale.