Social Psychiatry, Vol. 49 No. 2, 2021.
Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/spsih.2021.148
Fear of Going to the Dentist
Kristina Surina
; Dental Practice, dr. Davor Milišić, Omišalj, Croatia;
Jasmina Ruždijić
; Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Health Center, Rijeka, Croatia; Rijeka;
Ana Kuzinovska
; Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Psychiatric Clinic, Rijeka, Croatia
Aleksandra Stevanović
; Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Psychiatry Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine; Faculty of Health Studies, University of Rijeka, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Rijeka, Croatia
Ika Rončević-Gržeta
; Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka, Psychiatry Clinic; University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Fear of a dental procedure can have consequences related to oral health, but also to health in general. This fear can
result in a lack of adequate and regular dental care (at least once a year). Dental anxiety/phobia is one of the leading
factors for why patients avoid going to the dentist. The aim of this study was to identify if people who had an unpleasant
experience with a dentist in childhood are more likely to develop dental anxiety/phobia and to establish whether or not
dental phobia is related to a greater sensitivity for dental pain. This study investigates if people with dental anxiety achieve
higher results on the scale of anxiety state (STAI-X-1) than people who do not have dental anxiety/phobia. The results of
this research confirm the hypothesis that people with an unpleasant experience with a dentist in childhood have a higher
level of dental anxiety and higher anxiety state (STAI-X-1) and experience higher levels of dental pain than people who
do not perceive their experience with a dentist during childhood as unpleasant or bad. Additionally, subjects with dental
anxiety/phobia were less likely to visit the dentist.
Keywords
Anxiety; Anxiety State; Dental Fear; Dental Phobia
Hrčak ID:
270779
URI
Publication date:
14.1.2022.
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