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| Title |
Dental Anxiety in Adult and Child Population is Positively Correlated with Tooth Decay |
| Clinical Question |
Do people with dental anxiety have a greater number of decayed, restored, or missing tooth surfaces throughout their life compared to the general population. |
| Clinical Bottom Line |
When compared to the general population, individuals with dental anxiety tend to have more decayed, missing, or restored teeth throughout their life. |
| Best Evidence |
(you may view more info by clicking on the PubMed ID link) |
| PubMed ID |
Author / Year |
Patient Group |
Study type
(level of evidence) |
| #1) 19508269 | Thomson/2009 | 828 individuals over time | Prospective Cohort Study | | Key results | Most sufferers of continual dental anxiety, from childhood and adolescence into adulthood showed a mix of caries/ occlusal trauma and anxiety inducing personality factors. | | #2) 20156266 | Esa/2010 | 407 antenatal mothers | Prospective Cohort Study | | Key results | The study shows a positive correlation of dental decay and dental anxiety in antenatal mothers. | | #3) 23732827 | Olak/2013 | Cross sectional group of 344 children | Prospective Cohort Study | | Key results | Children's fears were strongly associated with untreated caries and experience of dental treatment. | |
| Evidence Search |
Dental Anxiety Tooth Decay |
Comments on
The Evidence |
Validity: Study by Thompson: A longitudal study of a birth cohort of 828 participants. The dental caries experience at 5 years was a predictor for those who maintained dental anxiety in adulthood (p<.05). Those who developed their dental anxiety in their adolescence also showed a higher experience of caries at age 15 (p<.05). Study by Esa 2010: 407 participated in the study. The mean score for dental fear in the group was 35.1 (p<.05). The mean DMFS score was 10.8 (p< .05). This study showed a positive correlation of .3 between dental anxiety and dental decay experience. Study by Olak 2013: The study involved 344 8-10 year old school children. Using the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule, the proportion of children with dental fear was found to be 6.1%. noninvasive fear was found to be higher in younger as opposed to older students (p<.02). Children with DMFT scores greater than 0 had higher fear scores that children who had a DMFT score of 0 (p<.01). This study also showed a stronh link between dental fear of parents and their children (p<.01)
Perspective: In Olak 2013 the population used was cross sectional. This allows diversity in socioeconomic status and other cultural and social factors, thus, its findings will be more easily generalized to other demographics. Additionally in Olak 2013 we find that parents greatly influence the onset of dental anxiety. In Thomas 2009, a prospective study, the use of a longitudinal form provides a broader understanding of dental anxiety affects people over time.
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| Applicability |
Knowing that the onset of dental anxiety typically occurs in childhood will provide dentists a window of opportunity to prevent or reduce its effects, thus reducing decay and consequently improving the oral health of the afflicted individuals. |
| Specialty/Discipline |
(Public Health) (Endodontics) (General Dentistry) (Orthodontics) (Pediatric Dentistry) (Restorative Dentistry) (Dental Hygiene) (Behavioral Science) |
| Keywords |
Dental anxiety, Dental fear.
|
| ID# |
2699 |
| Date of submission: |
04/01/2014 |
| E-mail |
fischbuch@livemail.uthscsa.edu |
| Author |
Scott Fischbuch |
| Co-author(s) |
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| Co-author(s) e-mail |
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| Faculty mentor/Co-author |
John P. Hatch, PhD |
| Faculty mentor/Co-author e-mail |
hatch@uthscsa.edu |
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?) |
post a rationale |
| None available | |
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Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs) |
post a comment |
| None available | |
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