Impacts of Dental Fear and Anxiety from the Public’s Perspective

Objectives:  Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is common and remains a concern in dental practice. Social media provides a valuable source for gaining in-depth understanding of health behaviors of the public. This study, using the video sharing platforms YouTube as a data source, aimed to understand the impacts of DFA on adults from the public’s perspective. Methods: YouTube was searched using the keywords “dental fear”, “dental anxiety” and “dental phobia”. Videos retrieved were screened. Those containing public’s experiences and views on adults’ DFA were selected, transcribed verbatim, and were subjected to thematic content analysis by line-by-line coding. Results:  A total of 158 relevant videos were found. The authentic testimonials uploaded by the public revealed DFA’s multiple impacts, which fell into several themes, namely physiological, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, social, and health impacts. Undergoing dental procedures was described by some as the “single thing that people dread the most”, worse than “walking on glass”, “having baby”, and “having finger nails pulled out”. DFA led to significant stress, negative perceptions, helplessness, and an array of avoidance and compulsive behaviors. The embarrassment caused by DFA was associated with a sense of guilt and denial of fear, which jeopardized effective communication with dentists and safe delivery of dental care. DFA interfered with people’s daily lives and social functioning, created negative self-image, and had a devastating effect on their dental and general health. The testimonials corroborated a vicious cycle, where DFA resulted in delayed dental visiting, extensive dental problems, symptom-driven treatment seeking, and need for complicated and invasive treatments, which further fed back into the exacerbation of DFA. Conclusion: Our findings revealed how DFA is presented in adults and to what extent it affects patients and the general public. DFA’s profound impacts should be taken into consideration in patient care and health promotion.