Keywords
Anxiety
Dentist
Depression Scale
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: The estimated prevalence of extreme dental fear and anxiety is 40% in the adult population. The patient's expressed fear of the dentist is rarely used in clinical practice to assess the patient's concerns. Objectives: The present study was conducted to identify risk factors associated with fear of the dentist and the frequency of visits to the dental office.
Methodology: The study included 98 individuals who visited a dental clinic in Federal University of Amazonas. Dental fear was measured: (What is your fear of visiting the dentist? a. Not at all, b. Little c. Much). Demographic data were collected based on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), while dental fear was assessed by the Dental Fear Questionnaire (CMD). These evaluations were made prior to the dental treatment.
Results: The results revealed that four dimensions of CMD were considered: A. accidental care, b. attitude of the dentist, c. negligence and d. organization. Only the dimensions of dentist attitude (OR = 2.4 (95% CI: 1.1-5.4); p = 0.02) and negligence (OR = 5.3 (95% CI: 2.0-13, p = 0.02); 1); p = 0.0001), along with anxiety levels (OR = 1.3 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7); p = 0.01) were independently associated with the presence of dental fear. None of the variables was associated with the frequency of dental visits.
Conclusions: The results also revealed that the attitude and anxiety dimensions of the dentist were associated with the fear of visiting the dentist.
References
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