Dental Phobia Among Patients Undergoing Different Dental Treatments

Abstract

Dental anxiety and fear are common and potentially problematic, both for the patient and for the dental team in managing such patients. Furthermore, dental fear still presents a major barrier in the uptake of dental treatment.

The objective of this study was to assess phobia amongst patients pertaining to different aspects of dental treatment  from waiting for their appointments to undergoing different dental procedures such as  scaling,restoration and major dental surgery. Descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at School Of Dentistry, Islamabad from Oct 2021- Dec 2021.

Questionnaires were distributed amongst a sample of 200 consented patients and the data was assessed using Modified Dental Anxiety Scale .Descriptive analysis was performed. Frequencies and cross tab calculations were carried out using SPSS version 17.

Results showed that patients have high levels of anxiety upon getting a local anesthesia around 62% followed by moderate anxiety levels while waiting for their turn (55%)  and  undergoing scaling (40%).Patients reported with little or no anxiety when asked about having an appointment the next day. Females reported as being more anxious when compared to males.

Key Words: Dental Phobia, Anxiety, Dental Treatment, Modified Dental Anxiety Scale