Clinical Estimation of Dental Anxiety

Clinical Estimation of Dental Anxiety

Introduction: Dental anxiety (DA) is treatable and preventable when dental personnel correctly estimate the patient's level of DA. Objective: To evaluate dental personnel's ability to estimate DA.

Method: All public dental clinics in the region of Östergötland, Sweden, were asked to consecutively recruit adult patients returning for their annual examination. The patient rated DA using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and a Visual Analogue Scale of dental anxiety (DA-VAS). The patient also recorded gender, age, level of education and confidence in handling DA. After the examination, the dental personnel estimated the patient's level of DA (eDA) on a VAS. The examiner also recorded gender, age, profession, years of experience, country of education, interest in DA, special education concerning DA and confidence in ability to handle DA.

Inclusion Criteria:

Adult patients returning for their annual examination on a public dental clinics in the region of Östergötland, Sweden during a two week period.

Exclusion Criteria:

inability to fill in the questionnaire