State of play of odontophobia in the urban commune of Toliara

Abstract

Introduction: Dental anxiety is omnipresent in our society. “Fear of the dentist” often leads patients to let their teeth deteriorate rather than go to a dental office. The objective of this study was to evaluate odontophobia among dental consultants at University Hospital Toliara as well as associated factors Methods: This is a prospective, analytical study carried out with dental consultants at Antanambao Toliara University Hospital. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was used to determine the presence of dental phobia. Results: 96.92% of patients were included in the study, the age of the patients varied between 18 to 71 years, 39.68% were in the age group 18 to 25 years; 67.46% were of the feminine gender. The patients presented dental phobia in 39.68% of cases. Socio-professional status was associated with the occurrence of dental phobia (p=0.008). The anxiety-provoking factors observed were: anesthesia (p=0.000), fear of pain (p=0.001), noise from instruments (p=0.003), drilling (p=0.04), extraction dental (p=0.000) and view of instruments (p=0.000). A significant statistical difference was observed between avoidance of oral check-ups, avoidance of dental care, negative effects on oral health and the MDSA scale. Conclusion: Odontophobia is a reality. Identifying patients as early as possible as well as knowing the factors associated with its occurrence could improve the quality of care in the dental environment.