Factors Associated with Dental Anxiety and Fear in Turkish Population

Objective: Dental anxiety and fear are common symptoms among dental patients which contribute to limitation or complete prevention of dental treatments. The aim of the study was to assess socio-demographic factors, clinical oral health status, self-assessed and quantitative status of fear and anxiety among a Turkish population. Methods: A total of 500 patients [185 male (37%), 315 (63%) female] were asked to answer the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), Dental Fear Scale (DFS) along with a questionnaire consisting socio-demographic characteristics and self-rated questions. Clinical oral health status was assessed by determining the DMFT/DMFS index scores for each patient. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed at a significance level of P<0.05. Results: Even though gender showed statistically significant affects on dental anxiety (P<.01); patients' gender (P<.01), age, marital status, owning children (P<.05), time elapsed since the patients' last visit to a dentist (P<.05) exhibited statistically significant affects on dental fear. Additionally, self-assessed fear of dentists revealed the most important factor affecting both dental anxiety and fear (P<.001). DMFT/DMFS index scores were not related to dental anxiety or fear (P>.05). Conclusions: Female gender, adulthood, marriage, having children and time passed over the patient's last visit to a dentist are significant predictors of dental anxiety and fear of patients. Above all, asking the patient if they are afraid first determines greatly if they are dentally anxious or fearful.