EC Dental Science

Background: Dental anxiety poses a significant barrier to treatment compliance, the use of dental services, and the ability to maintain adequate oral health, and quality of life. There is no doubt that dentistry is going towards the modern advancement in procedures, still, dental anxiety has a strong association with poor oral health status and quality of life.

Aim and Objective: The survey was conducted with a primary aim and objective to assess and evaluate dental anxiety levels and dental fear among dental patients attending national dental college and hospital.

Materials and Methods: The study consists of 467 adult patients from both genders visiting a dental college in Derabassi for dental treatment. Data collection was carried out through the administration of a self‑administered pre-validated questionnaire. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) which consists of 8 closed-ended questions with responses placed on a five-point Likert scale and one open-ended question was used to evaluate the degree of anxiety among study participants. A Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were done to find the association between anxiety and the type of dental treatment.

Results: The response rate of the study was 93%. There was a significantly high dental anxiety average score among females as compared to males (adjusted OR 1.935 with 95% CI of 1.57 - 2.51). On the other hand, there is no significant difference in dental anxiety levels on base on age and occupation. Those subjects having the primary and secondary levels of education were more likely to suffer from dental anxiety as compared to their having graduation and post-graduation education level (adjusted OR 1.58 with 95% CI of 0.76 - 3.2). MDAS score was recorded as highest for dental surgical procedures and least for the orthodontic treatment and replacement of teeth.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that dental anxiety levels among patients in the dental hospital, Derabassi were significantly high, especially in relation to teeth extraction and dental surgical procedures followed by tooth drilled for restoration and scaling and root planning, and the least anxiety scores were reported for replaced teeth and for orthodontic treatment.

Keywords: Dental Anxiety; Dental Fear; Modified Dental Anxiety Scale; MDAS; Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale

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