Dental Anxiety Among Adults in Turkey

Abstract

Aim: This aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety and related factors in a Turkish population. Methods and Materials:The Turkish translation of the Dental Fear Scale (DFS) and the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) were administered to 115 dental patients consisting of 21 subjects who had dental phobia and of 94 patients who did not. The scales were also administered to a non-clinical general population (N=183). Results:The Turkish version of the DFS was internally consistent and reproducible. The scale had strong correlations (r=0.80, p<0.001 ) with the MDAS. Female participants scored higher (45.2±18.1) on the scale than men (38.2±15.7). The DFS had a negative correlation (r=-0.25, p<0.001) with education level. There was a statistically significant difference between dental phobics and the remaining groups on the DFS total score. At a cut-off point 55, the sensitivity of the scale was 0.80, specificity 0.80, positive predictive value 0.48, and negative predictive value 0.95. Thirty-nine subjects (21.3%) in the general population had total scores above this cut-off point. Conclusion:Dental fear is common in clinical and non-clinical settings in Turkey. The good psychometric characteristics of the DFS among Turkish participants supports its cross-cultural validity.

Dental anxiety in patients with borderline intellectual functioning and patients with intellectual disabilities

“…1). These statistically significant data are consistently with findings by Armfield et al [12], Firat et al [10], Tunc et al [11], Liddel et al [18], Mohammed et al [1], Majstorovic et al [17], and Appukuttan et al [14]. …”

“…A higher prevalence of anxiety in females was found in Turkey, in the studies by Firat et al [10] and Tunc et al [11], and in India in the study by Mohammed et al [1]. In Australia as well, Armfield et al [12] found that the fear of the dentist was prevalent in females and correlated with the age of the sample.…”

Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the shorter form of the gagging problem assessment questionnaire

“…The English translation of the shorter version of the GPA is given in Table 1. To evaluate the validity of the shorter form of the GPA, the Turkish translations of the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS) (10, 11), dental fear scale (DFS) (12) and Spielberger trait anxiety scale (STAI‐T) (13), which have previously been found to be valid and reliable, were also completed twice.…”

Comparison of perceived oral health in patients with temporomandibular disorders and dental anxiety using oral health-related quality of life profiles

“…Ten percent of patients surveyed in the waiting rooms of German dental offices and up to 17% of the general population suffer from strong dental anxiety [2,3]. TMD and dental anxiety are important public health problems in Germany and throughout the world, not only due to their prevalence [4][5][6][7] but because TMD [8] and dental anxiety [9,10] were associated with significant psychosocial impact in patients. In TMD patients, associations with depression [11,12], somatization [12,13], and stress [14] have been observed.…”