FEAR OF INJECTIONS AND REPORT OF NEGATIVE DENTIST BEHAVIOR AMONG CAUCASIAN AMERICAN AND TAIWANESE ADULTS FROM DENTAL SCHOOL CLINICS

Fear of injections and reports of negative dentist behavior and associ ations with dental anxiety and avoidance of treatment were explored am ong 951 adults from dental school clinics in Iowa City, Iowa and Taipe i, Taiwan. Use and fear of anesthetic injections and negative dentist behavior were assessed by written questionnaire to test associations w ith demographics, overall dental anxiety (Dental Anxiety Scale or ''DA S'') and utilization behaviors. Frequency and logistic regression anal yses showed that use of dental anesthetics for routine treatment was m uch greater overall among caucasian Americans than Taiwanese, as was f ear of injections. Taiwanese and Americans with high dental anxiety (D AS 12) had similar high fear of injections, but inspite of similar fea rs about dental drilling, high anxiety Taiwanese reported using much l ess local anesthesia for routine treatments than did high anxiety Amer icans. Report of condescending remarks to patients (''put downs'') by dentists was mainly an American phenomenon associated with high dental anxiety. Avoidance of appointment making was high for persons afraid of injections and for Americans reporting negative dentist behavior. A voidance was highest in subjects with high dental anxiety. That predom inant characteristics or etiologies of dental anxiety can differ by cu ltural differences in dental health care systems, dentist beliefs and/ or expectations of patients within those systems was discussed in rela tion to the Literature.