Dental Anxiety and Higher Sensory Processing Sensitivity in a Sample of German Soldiers with Inflammatory Periodontal Disease

Abstract

(1) Background: Dental anxiety with disease value usually leads to avoidance of dental treatment. For the initial diagnosis of the level of anxiety, questionnaires such as the Hierarchical Anxiety Questionnaire (HAQ) are suitable. The construct of sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) describes a general trait in which people with a higher degree of SPS perceive information more strongly and process it more thoroughly. (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between dental anxiety and higher levels of SPS in 116 soldiers referred with different stages of periodontitis for mandatory dental fitness before military deployment. (3) Results: The proportion of patients with periodontitis in stage III + IV was 39% and in stage I + II was 27%. The mean cumulative values of the questionnaires were 20.9 ± 10.6 for HAQ and 27.7 ± 16.0 for SPS. Eleven moderately anxious patients had a SPS value of 37.4 ± 13.5 and 10 highly anxious patients had a value of 36.3 ± 14.1. Patients diagnosed with stage III + IV periodontitis showed significantly higher values on the SPS subscale Low Sensory Threshold (LST), which describes overstimulation by external sensory stimuli, compared to patients with stage I + II periodontitis. Dental anxiety showed moderately significant correlations with the SPS subscale Ease of Excitation (EOE), which measures emotional reactivity to physiological stimuli. (4) Conclusions: Due to the frequency of dental anxiety and higher sensitivity in patients with severe periodontitis, it is useful to record said frequency.

Influence of Depression and Anxiety on Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment Outcomes: A 6-Month Prospective Study

“…Psychological factors have been suggested as being associated with the increased prevalence of periodontitis due to the inflammatory involvement of the diseases, but also due to the impact on the patients' behaviors [34,35]. However, this hypothesis remains under discussion, as, in some studies, no differences were observed between the healthy population and patients diagnosed with psychological disorders, such as severe depression [36].…”

Zahnmedizinische Beschwerdebilder mit psychosozialem Hintergrund

“…Angst-und depressive Störungen sind häufiger bei Menschen mit ZBA mit Krankheitswert zu finden [9]. ZBA ist ein wenig beachtetes Symptom in Zusammenhang mit posttraumatischer Belastungsstörung [6], Parodontitis [10] und mit eingeschränkter mentaler Gesundheit [11]. Nach Lenk et al [11] weist ein Drittel der PatientInnen mit einer bekannten psychosomatischen Krankheit eine stark erhöhte ZBA auf.…”