Dental Fear in Relation to Oral Health Status among Adults in Finland
Dental fear refers to the fear of dentistry and of receiving dental care. A severe form of this fear (specific phobia) is variously called dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia, dentist phobia, or dental anxiety. However, it has been suggested not to use the term "dental phobia" for people who do not feel their fears to be excessive or unreasonable and resemble individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, caused by previous traumatic dental experiences.[1] wikipedia Dental fear and subjective oral impacts among adults in Finland.
Pohjola V, Lahti S, Suominen-Taipale L, Hausen H.
Source
Department of Community Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. vesa.pohjola@oulu.fi
Abstract
We aimed to study the association between subjective oral impacts and dental fear adjusted for age, gender, level of education, and dental attendance, and to evaluate whether this association was modified by the number of remaining teeth. Nationally representative data on Finnish adults, 30+ yr of age (n = 5,987), were gathered through interviews, clinical examination, and questionnaires. Dental fear was measured using the question: 'How afraid are you of visiting a dentist?' and subjective oral impacts were measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. The outcome variables were the percentage of people reporting one or more OHIP-14 items fairly often or very often, and the 'extent' and 'severity'. Those with high dental fear reported higher levels of prevalence, 'extent', and 'severity' of subjective oral impacts than did those with low dental fear or no fear. The association between dental fear and subjective oral impacts was not significantly modified by the number of remaining teeth. The greatest differences between those with high dental fear and low dental fear were found in psychological, social, and handicap dimensions, but not in functional or physical dimensions of the OHIP-14. Treating dental fear
Pohjola V, Lahti S, Suominen-Taipale L, Hausen H.
Source
Department of Community Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. vesa.pohjola@oulu.fi
Abstract
We aimed to study the association between subjective oral impacts and dental fear adjusted for age, gender, level of education, and dental attendance, and to evaluate whether this association was modified by the number of remaining teeth. Nationally representative data on Finnish adults, 30+ yr of age (n = 5,987), were gathered through interviews, clinical examination, and questionnaires. Dental fear was measured using the question: 'How afraid are you of visiting a dentist?' and subjective oral impacts were measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. The outcome variables were the percentage of people reporting one or more OHIP-14 items fairly often or very often, and the 'extent' and 'severity'. Those with high dental fear reported higher levels of prevalence, 'extent', and 'severity' of subjective oral impacts than did those with low dental fear or no fear. The association between dental fear and subjective oral impacts was not significantly modified by the number of remaining teeth. The greatest differences between those with high dental fear and low dental fear were found in psychological, social, and handicap dimensions, but not in functional or physical dimensions of the OHIP-14. Treating dental fear