Abstract
Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is common across the lifespan and represents a barrier to proper oral health behaviors and outcomes. The aim of this study is to present a conceptual model of the relationships between DFA, general anxiety/fear, sensory over-responsivity (SOR), and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes. Two rounds of literature searches were performed using the PubMed database. Included articles examined DFA, general anxiety/fear, SOR, catastrophizing, and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes in typically developing populations across the lifespan. The relationships between the constructs were recorded and organized into a conceptual model. A total of 188 articles were included. The results provided supporting evidence for relationships between DFA and all other constructs included in the model (general anxiety/fear, SOR, poor oral health, irregular dental attendance, dental behavior management problems [DBMP], and need for treatment with pharmacological methods). Additionally, SOR was associated with general anxiety/fear and DBMP; general anxiety/fear was linked to poor oral health, irregular attendance, and DBMP. This model provides a comprehensive view of the relationships between person factors (e.g., general anxiety/fear, SOR, and DFA) and oral health behaviors and outcomes. This is valuable in order to highlight connections between constructs that may be targeted in the development of new interventions to improve oral health behaviors and outcomes as well as the experience of DFA.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralDental fear is defined as a negative reaction to specific threatening stimuli associated with dental treatment, whereas dental anxiety is an excessive or impairing negative emotional state experienced by dental patients [1,2]
As this study aimed to examine person factors that influence oral health behaviors and outcomes that may be targeted in future interventions, other articles focusing on constructs such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, parental dental fear and anxiety (DFA), socioeconomic status, and dentist behavior were excluded
The explicit linking of these constructs highlights connections that may be targeted in the development of new interventions to improve oral health behaviors and outcomes as well as the experience of DFA
Summary
Dental fear is defined as a negative reaction to specific threatening stimuli associated with dental treatment, whereas dental anxiety is an excessive or impairing negative emotional state experienced by dental patients [1,2]. These terms are often used interchangeably or even combined as a single term, dental fear and anxiety (DFA) [1,2], which has been linked to many negative oral health behaviors and outcomes (e.g., [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]). Much research has reported—with overall inconsistent findings—on the relationship between DFA and sociodemographic characteristics, including age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, geographic location, and culture [2,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36]
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