Anxiety and Quality of Life in Phobic Dental Patients

Abstract

Little is known about the anxiety patients experience before attending for dental treatment. The aim of this study was to determine, in dentally phobic patients, the temporal relationship of pre-operative anxiety levels, and the disruption to daily life caused by this. Twenty-four phobic and 19 comparison (non-phobic) dental patients were recruited. Four validated questionnaires were used to assess anxiety and quality of life, which each patient completed for 5 days prior to, and on the day of, treatment. Those in the experimental group were found to have significantly greater levels of dental and general anxiety, and a significantly lower quality of life compared with those in the comparison group. Significant temporal relationships were found with all of the questionnaires. Dental and general anxiety scores were significantly correlated with quality-of-life measures. This study suggests that phobic dental patients are experiencing significant increased anxiety, and significant negative quality-of-life effects, in this period.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abrahamsson KH, Berggren U, Carlsson SG (2000). Psychosocial aspects of dental and general fears in dental phobic patients. Acta Odontol Scand 58:37–43.

Berggren U (1993). Psychosocial effects associated with dental fear in adult dental patients with avoidance behaviours. Psychol Health 8:185–196.

Cohen SM, Fiske J, Newton JT (2000). The impact of dental anxiety on daily living. Br Dent J 187:385–390.

Corah N (1969). Development of a dental anxiety scale. J Dent Res 48:596.

Dahlöf C (1990). Minor Symptoms Evaluation (MSE) Profile–a questionnaire for assessment of subjective CNS-related symptoms. Scand J Prim Health Care Suppl 1:19–25.

Dahlöf C, Dimenäs E, Olofsson B (1989). Documentation of an instrument for assessment of subjective CNS-related symptoms during cardiovascular pharmacotherapy. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 3:919–927.

Dupuy HJ (1984). The Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index. In: Assessment of quality of life in clinical trials of cardiovascular therapies. Wenger NK, Mattson ME, Furberg CF, Elinson J, editors. New York: Le Jacq Publishing, pp.170–183.

Fox E, O’Boyle C, Barry H, McCreary C (1989). Repressive coping style and anxiety in stressful dental surgery. Br J Med Psychol 62(Pt 4): 371–380.

Freeman R, Clarke HM, Humphris GM (2007). Conversion tables for the Corah and Modified Dental Anxiety Scales. Community Dent Health 24:49–54.

10.

Hakeberg M, Berggren U, Gröndahl HG (1993). A radiographic study of dental health in adult patients with dental anxiety. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 21:27–30.

11.

Hall N, Edmondson HD (1983). The aetiology and psychology and dental fear. Br Dent J 154:247–252.

12.

Kaakko T, Milgrom P, Coldwell SE, Getz T, Weinstein P, Ramsay DS (1998). Dental fear among university employees: implications for dental education. J Dent Educ 62:415–420.

13.

Kelly M, Steele J, Nuttall N, Bradnock G, Morris J, Nunn J, et al. (1998). The Adult Dental Health Survey 1998. London, UK; HMSO.

14.

Litt MD, Nye C, Shafer D (1993). Coping with oral surgery by self-efficacy enhancement and perceptions of comparison. J Dent Res 72: 1237–1243.

15.

Locker D (2003). Psychosocial consequences of dental fear and anxiety. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 31:144–151.

16.

Luyk NH, Weaver JM, Beck FM, Loetscher CA, Sacks J (1988). The effectiveness of flurazepam as night sedation prior to the removal of third molars. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 17:347–351.

17.

Marks IM (1969). Fears and phobias. London, UK: Academic Press.

18.

McGrath C, Bedi R (2004). The association between dental anxiety and oral health-related quality of life in Britain. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 31:67–72.

19.

Mehrstedt M, Tonnies S, Eisentraut I (2004). Dental fears, health status and quality of life. Anesth Prog 51:90–94.

20.

Mellor AC (1992). Dental anxiety and attendance in the North-West of England. J Dent 20:207–210.

21.

Spielberger DC (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

22.

Strine TW, Chapman DP, Kobau R, Balluz L (2005). Associations of self-reported anxiety symptoms with health-related quality of life and health behaviours. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40:432–438; erratum in Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40: 680, 2005.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.43 MB