Summary :
It is well documented that dental fear (DF) may cause frequent and serious problems for both dentist and patient, and gives rise to a number of deleterious effects 1–3 . Well over a third of the grown-up population admits to being fearful and 5% can be regarded as extremely fearful or phobic 2,4 . In Sweden, about every 10th child is referred to specialist pedodontic clinics some time during childhood or adolescence; the majority because of behavioural management problems (BMP) and DF in combination with severe dental decay 5 . These 10% of children account for a major part of dental decay and consume considerable resources at the specialist as well as at the general dentist.

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