CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY UNPLEASANT DENTAL EXPERIENCES

There is evidence in the literature that dentally anxious individuals are not a homogeneous group. Various ways of categorizing them have be en suggested. These categories have stemmed primarily from clinical ex perience or psychiatric diagnoses. In addition, Reiss' (1987, 1991) ex pectancy theory of fear, anxiety and panic appears to fit some of the etiological data. At the simplest level, it is suggested that dental a nxiety may result from direct conditioning experiences or from a const itutional vulnerability to develop anxiety-based problems. Taking cond itioning theory and Reiss's model as a basis, it was predicted dental events deemed unpleasant would fall under four categories: (a) events relating to dental specific procedures and stimuli, (b) events relatin g to injuries, (c) events relating to emotional responses and (d) even ts relating to dental personnel behavior. In addition, it was predicte d that individuals who would report high-anxiety sensitivity as measur ed by the anxiety sensitivity index (ASI) would be more likely to perc eive unpleasant incidents relating to injuries, emotional responses an d dental personnel behavior than individuals with low-anxiety sensitiv ity. On the other hand, everyone would be affected by incidents relati ng to specific dental procedures and stimuli. The participants were 51 0 university students who were surveyed during class time. The first p rediction was supported but the second one was only partially supporte d, in that, participants who obtained high scores on the ASI differed from the others only regarding injuries. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.