Dental anxiety in young adult Danes under alternative dental care programs

Abstract

The purpose of the present report is to establish to what extent dental anxiety is expressed by young adults with a long history of regular dental care, to analyze whether expressions of dental anxiety vary during young adulthood in response to different dental care delivery programs, and to study which factors might account for existing expressions of dental anxiety. The study comprised 697 persons who participated in a longitudinal study on alternative dental care programs, running from the youngsters' 16th to their 19th yr. At the end, Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was applied through self-completed questionnaires. Overall DAS-mean was 7.26; women expressed more anxiety than men (7.73; 6.78). Significant association between anxiety expressed at the end and at the start of the study indicated that dental anxiety was probably present at an early age. No association was found with utilization of dental services. A multiple regression analysis indicated early expressed dental anxiety and negative self assessment of dental health as important predictors for dental anxiety, while sex, negative assessment of gingival health, and dental program were of less importance, altogether explaining 22% of the DAS score variation. The risk group concept currently employed by the Public Child Dental Health Services might be extended to include expressions of dental anxiety.