Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among the Dental Patients Presenting in Surgical Outpatient Department of A Tertiary Care Dental Hospital: A Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract

Aim: To determine the prevalence of dental anxiety and its association with demographic variables among the dental patients. Methods; A total number of 100 patients who presented in the Department of Maxillo Facial surgery, were included in the study after an informed consent. Demographic information was collected on a proforma. Dental anxiety was assessed through a structured proforma, derived and translated from Corah’s dental anxiety scale in Urdu language. Data was collected and analyzed on SPSS 21. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA was used to calculate the difference. Results: Results revealed that there were 86% patients who showed dental anxiety of moderate to severe degree. Among these 39% had moderate level of dental anxiety while 19% had high and 28% showed severe anxiety. Results showed a significant difference between the mean dental anxiety scores of male and female subjects. Female had higher mean scores. Current study could not found any significant difference in mean scores in relation to age, marital status, place of residence, employment status and socioeconomic status Conclusion: There is high prevalence of dental anxiety in the study population. There is significant difference in prevalence according to the gender. Female suffer more with dental anxiety while attending the dental clinics.