Anxiety to dental procedures among adolescents in Nalgonda district, Telangana, India: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Dental anxiety in adolescents is often noticed and is a cause of postponement of appointments, delay in seeking dental care or even avoidance of seeking dental treatment resulting in a poor oral health-related quality of life. Even though dentistry has steer up with much advancement, because of this dental anxiety patients are not stepping in the initial phase of treatment eventually leading to more invasive procedures. This study was undertaken to know which dental procedure will provoke more anxiety in the adolescents. Materials and Methodology: A custom-made questionnaire was prepared related to frequently done dental procedures. A total of 500 adolescents within the age group of 15-19 years were participated in the study. Filled questionnaires were collected; data was tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: In Group I (male), 76.4% of adolescents were highly anxious to extraction/ surgical procedures followed by root canal treatment (70.8%) and crown preparation with impression procedure (64.4%). In Group II (female) 89.2% of adolescents were highly anxious to extraction/ surgical procedures followed by root canal treatment (84%) and crown preparation with impression procedure (77.2%). Conclusion: Adolescents were highly anxious to surgical and invasive dental procedures. Dentists should reduce their anxiety levels by behavior management techniques before treating them.