Dental Fear: One Single Clinical Question for Measurement

A new dental fear measurement instrument, the Short Dental Fear Question (SDFQ), was developed and tested for clinical practice purposes. The correlations of the SDFQ with the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) were tested in 15-16-year-old adolescents. The Spearman correlations (rs) between the dental fear measurement instruments were: SDFQ – DFS: rs = 0.79, n = 26; DFS – DAS: rs = 0.72, n = 26; SDFQ– DAS: rs = 0.69, n = 27. DAS and DFS mean scores were clearly higher in the SDFQ fear group than SDFQ in the relaxed group. The SDFQ is a short and compact instrument which might be convenient for the measurement of dental fear in clinical practice

Ansiedade ao tratamento odontológico em atendimento de urgência Dental anxiety in an emergency dental service

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a freqüência de pacientes com ansiedade ou medo do tratamento odontológico em um setor de urgência. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 252 pacientes, com 18 anos ou mais, que compareceram ao setor de urgência de uma faculdade de odontologia, de São Paulo, SP, entre agosto e novembro de 2001. Para avaliar a ansiedade, foram utilizadas a Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), e a Escala de Medo de Gatchel. O grupo estudado respondeu a questões sobre: tempo decorrido desde a última visita ao dentista e desde o início dos sintomas, escolaridade, renda familiar e história prévia de trauma. Os resultados foram analisados pelos testes estatísticos (chi2 e Teste Exato de Fisher). RESULTADOS: Foram identificados 28,2% de indivíduos com algum grau de ansiedade, segundo a MDAS, na qual as mulheres foram consideradas mais ansiosas que os homens (chi2=0,01); e 14,3% de pacientes com alto grau de medo segundo a Escala de Medo de Gatchel. Em 44,4% da amostra a demora para procura de alívio dos sintomas foi > sete dias. Mulheres ansiosas procuraram atendimento mais rapidamente e em maior número. Experiência traumática anterior ocorreu em 46,5% dos pacientes ansiosos. Não foi possível relacionar escolaridade e renda familiar com ansiedade e/ou medo. CONCLUSÕES: Pacientes ansiosos, com destaque para as mulheres, são freqüentes no atendimento odontológico de urgência. Experiência prévia traumática mostrou-se importante para o desenvolvimento da ansiedade em relação ao atendimento odontológico.<br>OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to assess the frequency of dental anxiety and/or fear among patients in an emergency dental service. METHODS: Research was based on interviews with 252 patients, aged 18 years old and over, attended at an emergency dentistry service of São Paulo, Brazil, from August to November, 2001. Two methods were used to measure dental anxiety: the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and the Gatchel Fear Scale. The study group answered questions concerning major complaint, how much time had elapsed since their last visit to the dentist and since the initial symptoms leading to the current visit to the emergency service, level of education, family income and previous traumas. Statistical analysis (chi2 and Fisher exact test) was performed to evaluate these characteristics. RESULTS: It was found that 28.17% of this sample was dentally anxious, according to the MDAS, and 14.29%, felt fear related to dental treatment according to the Gatchel Fear Scale. Women were more anxious than men at a statistically significant rate (MDAS). The time elapsed since the onset of initial symptoms was more than 7 days for 44.44% of the participants. A large proportion of anxious women returned to treatment during the last year. A previous traumatic experience with dental was identified in 46.48% of the dentally anxious patients. No significant relation between level of education or income and dental anxiety was found. CONCLUSIONS: Dentally anxious patients frequent attend emergency care. Females are more likely to report high dental anxiety than males. Previous experience seems to be an important factor contributing to avoidance of dental care

Reliability and validity of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) in a Turkish population

Objectives: Fear of dentistry is a common obstacle to obtaining dental care in Turkey. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability, validity and psychometric characteristics of the Turkish translation of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and compare it to the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) scores obtained in the same population. Methods: The Turkish translated version of the MDAS was administered to 115 dental patients; 21 subjects who suffered from dental phobia, requiring general anesthesia for dental procedures, and 94 who did not have dental anxiety, in addition to 442 subjects from the general population. Results: The Turkish translated version of the MDAS was internally consistent and reproducible. The patients with dentist phobia had the highest score. The Turkish MDAS correlated with the DFS (r=0.80, P= 15, sensitivity was 0.80, specificity 0.74, positive predictive value 0.41 and negative predictive value 0.94. Conclusion: Although the specificity values were low, the Turkish MDAS demonstrated acceptable sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values. Thus, high reliability and validity of the MDAS supports its cross-cultural validity and indicated that it may be a valuable tool in quantifying fear of dentistry among Turks