Newsletter
For the study, the participants, 460 male and female students recruited from two universities in Hong Kong, answered a questionnaire including a 73-item measure of dental anxiety-provoking stimuli. The factor analysis established seven factors for the DAPS, namely, dental check-up, injection, scale and drill, surgery, empathy, perceived lack of control, and clinical environment.
In a sub-group of 160 participants, injections and surgical treatment, in particular, were identified as anxiety-provoking events. Although it was not a statistically significant finding, female respondents showed relatively higher anxiety regarding injection, surgery, and scale and drill, while male respondents showed relatively higher anxiety regarding perceived lack of control, empathy, and dental check-ups.
In addition, the researchers found that perceived dentist behaviour had an impact on the expression and development of dental fear, indicating that the dentist–patient relationship is strongly related to patients’ feelings of safety and control during treatment.
The researchers concluded that their DAPS covers a broad spectrum of patients’ individual dentistry-related anxiety and may also function as a further assessment to supplement initial screening. This may allow the identification of patients with higher dental fear so that the causes of their dental fear can then be addressed.
The study, titled “Development of a Dental Anxiety Provoking Scale: A pilot study in Hong Kong”, was published in the September issue of the Journal of Dental Sciences
From http://www.dental-tribune.com
