Correlation between dental anxiety, Sense of Coherence (SOC) and dental caries in school children from Bangalore North: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Very few publications report on the relationship between 'salutogenesis', as measured by the concept of Sense of Coherence (SOC), and generally speaking an individual's overall oral health- related quality of life (OHRQL). To add to this, there is even lesser information regarding the behavioral aspect of dental anxiety. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between dental anxiety, SOC and dental caries in school children from Bangalore North. The study had a sample of 529 children from various schools, age between 12-16 in Bangalore north. The study comprised of 17 questions which were handed over to them; and upon receival of the questionnaire the respective decayed, missing, filled tooth surfaces index (DMFS) score was checked which was then compared with dental anxiety and SOC. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) F-test and multiple comparison procedures (MCPs). High dental anxiety predicted high dental caries index and low SOC predicted high dental caries index in association with advancing children's age from 12-16 years. Dental anxiety had a direct relationship with dental caries and SOC had an inverse relationship with dental caries.