Personality and Environmental Variables Associated with Dental Anxiety

1979 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan N. Franco ◽  
Don B. Croft

94 adult dental patients' anxiety was assessed. Scores on Spielberger, et al.'s inventory showed attractiveness of the waiting room, age. and Edwards' Harmavoidance were significantly related to anxiety.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Anand Acharya ◽  
Bhushan Bhattarai ◽  
Nidhi Giri ◽  
Jitendra Singh ◽  
Tarakant Bhagat

Introduction: Anxiety is the state of feeling nervous or worried that something bad is going to happen. Dental anxiety is defined as a patient’s response to stress that is associated with a dental procedure. The aim of our study is to investigate the anxiety status of dental patients visiting Orthodontic department at Nobel Medical College Teaching Hospital, Biratnagar. Materials and Method: Total 80 ongoing orthodontic patients (M =21 F=59) who completed modified Dental Anxiety Scale questionnaire were included in the study. Result: Majority of patients (65%) had moderate anxiety where as 25% had mild anxiety and around 9% had severe to extreme anxiety. Patients’ age and education level had significant association with the level of dental anxiety. Conclusion: Dental anxiety in orthodontic patients is unavoidable but needs appropriate counseling. Orthodontist’s role is crucial in bridging the gap between patients’ perception towards orthodontic treatment and the actual treatment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Margaretha Sovaria ◽  
Eka S Shofiyah ◽  
Mochamad F Rizal ◽  
Sarworini B Budiardjo

Objective: Mothers have very important roles in their children’s development. Their instinctive love develops strong emotional connections with their children, especially when their children have sensory impairments (SI). Feelings experienced by mothers, such as anxiety toward dental treatment, can affect their children’s emotions. Salivary alpha amylase (sAA) has been proposed as a biomarker of stress due to its sensitivity to changes in the body, such as dental anxiety. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between sAA levels in mothers and children with SI before dental treatment.Methods: Measurement of sAA from sixty pairs of children with SI and their mothers was taken together in the waiting room before the children’s dental treatment. Spearman’s analysis was used to find the correlation between their sAA levels.Results: In this study, sAA levels in mothers accompanying their children with SI correlated significantly with their children’s sAA levels (r=0.533; p<0.002).Conclusions: The correlation between dental anxiety in mothers and children with SI before dental treatment was found to be significant.Practical Implications: Anxiety toward dental care is a phenomenon that frequently arises in children. Mothers, the main influencers of their children’s development, are thought to be one cause of high anxiety in children. Children with special needs are at a higher risk for developing dental problems. Therefore, an understanding of these children’s levels of anxiety can be used by pediatric dentists to improve dental care.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e316985536
Author(s):  
Jaqueline Oliveira Barreto ◽  
Julliana Cariry Palhano Freire ◽  
Arthur Willian de Lima Brasil ◽  
Cristian Statkievicz ◽  
Francisley Ávila Souza ◽  
...  

Objective: To assess dental anxiety in patients undergoing oral surgery, as well as its impact on blood pressure and heart rate. Material and Methods: A total of 233 patients answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and another one based on the Corah dental anxiety scale. Blood pressure and heart rate were assessed at three moments while: patients were in the waiting room, immediately before and after the procedure. Results: This study revealed a prevalence of anxiety of 77.3%. There was a statistically significant difference in mean systolic blood pressure and heart rate at the three moments of the evaluation. Anxiety was prevalent in the sample and was observed from the time in the waiting room until the time when local anesthesia was performed, causing variations in systolic blood pressure and heart rate, anxiety levels decreased after the end of the service. In conclusion, we observed that oral surgery is directly related to increased anxiety, and anxiety is mainly related to the change in heart rate.


2005 ◽  
Vol os12 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edith M Allen ◽  
Nick M Girdler

Introduction Anxiety and fear in relation to dentistry are long-standing problems and the incidence of dental fear does not appear to be decreasing. It can result in poor dental health and wastage of clinical time. Conscious sedation is one method of allaying anxiety in dental patients and enables such patients to accept dental treatment. Aims, Materials and Methods A questionnaire survey was undertaken among patients attending an emergency dental clinic. Its aims were to assess the levels of dental anxiety in these subjects, the impact on their attendance for dental treatment, and their knowledge of and desire to have conscious sedation, should it be available. Results The results indicated that in the 72 patients who responded, levels of anxiety regarding dental treatment were high, with 49 (68%) claiming some nervousness or worse. Thirty-one (43%) cited fear/nervousness as a reason for delaying making a dental appointment. Twenty-seven (38%) were not aware of the existence of conscious sedation for dental treatment, of whom half reported that they were in the highly anxious group. Forty (56%) respondents said they would like to have sedation if it were available. Twenty-five (35%) claimed to have received sedation for dental treatment in the past. Conclusion It was concluded that the availability of dental sedation was currently not matching the needs and demands of several patients who took part in the survey. Increased availability of dental sedation could remove a barrier to dental care for many highly anxious dental patients.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Eli ◽  
Yoram Bar-Tal ◽  
Zvi Fuss ◽  
Ethan Korff

BACKGROUND:Pain is a subjective sensory and emotional experience that is influenced by variables such as stress, anxiety and sex.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the interrelationship among sex, state and dental anxiety, and the patient's reaction to diagnostic tooth pulp stimulation.SUBJECTS AND DESIGN:The study was conducted on 64 dental patients (age 18 to 78 years, 50% were female). All subjects were evaluated twice. At time 1, subjects were requested to fill out questionnaires concerning their state and dental anxiety, and participants underwent diagnostic tooth pulp stimulation by an electric pulp tester. Four variables of the experience were recorded: sensation threshold, pain threshold, pain tolerance and the subjective evaluation of the painful experience on a visual analogue scale (VAS). At time 2, subjects were requested to record their memory of the previous experience on a VAS, and the whole procedure was repeated including record of state and dental anxiety, sensation and pain thresholds, pain tolerance and its subjective evaluation on a VAS.RESULTS:No direct correlations were found between sex and any other variable. However, there were significant differences in the relationship among the different pain and anxiety measures between both sexes.CONCLUSIONS:A man's reaction to acute pain stimulation may be more affected by psychological factors than a woman's.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-96
Author(s):  
Priyanka S Machale ◽  
Vanitha U Shenoy ◽  
Kunal Phodse

ABSTRACT Introduction Dental anxiety may be defined as a state of unpleasant feeling combined with an associated feeling of impending doom or danger from within than from without. Anxious patients are difficult to manage and tend to avoid treatment. Aim The aim of the study is to evaluate the level of dental anxiety among patients undergoing endodontic treatment. Materials and methods Consent form and a pro forma of questionnaire [Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS)] in three different languages were used. The patients undergoing endodontic treatment were first explained about the study and how the study would be carried out with a sample size of 250 patients. The minimum score of 5 and the maximum score of 25 was considered for evaluation. Cut off at 19 or above indicates a highly dentally anxious patient. Statistical analysis Analysis was done using the Student’s t-test and Kruskal–Wallis test. Results There were significant differences in the level of anxiety between male and female patients when the tooth was about to be drilled, when the teeth were about to be scaled, and when the local anesthetic was to be administered (p = 0.05, 0.02, and 0.06 respectively), except for anxiety levels a day prior to treatment and when patients were in the waiting room, which was not significant (p = 0.46 and 0.14 respectively). Conclusion In general, it was observed that patients are slightly anxious related to dental appointments and fairly anxious when related to treatments. Female patients tend to be more anxious than men, and patients in age group below 25 years are more anxious than other age groups. How to cite this article Phodse K, Shenoy VU, Machale PS. Assessment of Dental Anxiety Levels in Patients undergoing Endodontic Treatment. J Contemp Dent 2017;7(2):91-96.


2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Sobol-Kwapińska ◽  
Alicja Senejko ◽  
Leszek Jaśkiewicz ◽  
Anna Kwiatkowska

Dental anxiety is a condition suffered by many dental patients. It causes psychological discomfort and avoidance of dental appointments, which in turn may lead to oral health issues. Dental anxiety has not yet been fully explored and seems to be still posing challenge to both dentists and psychologists. The aim of this article is to review dental anxiety studies, paying particular attention to the conditions, social, demographic and psychological correlations, as well as the ramifications of this type of anxiety. The article presents the most common psychological models of dental anxiety, methods to measure this type of anxiety and therapy techniques used with patients suffering from dental anxiety.


1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 611-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Benjamins ◽  
Albert H. B. Schuurs ◽  
Johan Hoogstraten

The present study assesses the relationship between self-reported dental anxiety (Dental Anxiety Inventory, Dental Anxiety Scale, and Duration of Psychophysiological Fear Reactions), electrodermal activity (skin-conductance level and frequency of spontaneous responses), and Marlowe-Crowne defensiveness. All measurements were made twice. The first session was scheduled immediately before a semi-annual dental check-up (stress condition), and baseline measurements were made two months later without the prospect of a dental appointment. Subjects were male dental patients who regularly attended a university dental clinic and a clinic for Special Dental Care. The main findings were that the low anxious-high defensive-scoring (Marlowe-Crowne Denial subscale) university patients showed significantly higher skin-conductance levels and frequency of nonspecific fluctuations than the low anxious-low defensive-scoring subjects. Besides, the conductance values of the low anxious-high defensive-scoring subjects resembled those of the high anxious-low defensive-scoring patients of the clinic for Special Dental Care, the baseline frequency of nonspecific fluctuations excepted.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Shashidhar Acharya ◽  
KalyanaChakravarthy Pentapati ◽  
SamuelRaj Srinivasan ◽  
Sachin Khatri

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