Incidence of dental anxiety in young adults in relation to dental treatment experience

Objectives: To document the incidence of dental anxiety among individuals a ged 18 years at baseline and 26 years at follow-up, and to determine if den tal treatment experience continues to play a significant etiological role w ith respect to the onset of dental anxiety in young adults. Methods: Dental anxiety scale (DAS; Corah, 1969) scores at ages 15, 18 and 26 were obtaine d for Study members in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Dental examinations were conducted, and sociodemographic and dental service-use data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. Using a case definition of a DAS score of 13 or more, age 18-26 incident cases wer e identified and their dental treatment experience and service-use characte ristics compared with the remainder. Results: DAS scores at 18 and 26 were available for 792 (80.8%) of the 980 26-year-old Study members. An increase in dental anxiety prevalence was observed over the eight-year period, with an annualized incidence of 2.1%. Fewer incident cases had visited a dentis t in the previous eight years, and there were no differences between incide nt cases and others in their eight-year DFS, FS or tooth-loss increments. A subgroup of "recurrent" cases was identified who were dentally anxious at 15 and 26 but not at 18, and their eight-year incidence of tooth loss due t o caries was substantially higher than non-cases. Conclusions: Aversive con ditioning experiences appear to be unrelated to the adult onset of dental a nxiety, and it may be that particular temperamental or psychological traits are associated with the condition.