Phobic avoidance and regular dental care in fearful dental patients: a comparative study

The present investigation was a comparative study of 169 highly fearful den tal patients, some of whom received regular dental care (n = 28) and some w ho never, or only when absolutely necessary, utilized dental care (n = 141) . It was hypothesized that phobic avoidance is related to anticipatory stre ss and anxiety reactions, negative oral health effects, psychological distr ess, and negative social consequences. Background factors (sex, age, educat ion, and dental attendance pattern), dental anxiety, general fears, general state and trait anxiety, mood states, depression, and quality of life effe cts were studied. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and with e xploratory factor and multiple logistic regression analysis. It was shown t hat dental anxiety is significantly higher among the avoiders and this is i n particular evident for anticipatory dental anxiety. Oral health differed between the groups, and it was shown that avoiders had significantly more m issing teeth, whereas regular attenders had significantly more filled teeth . The avoiders reported a monger negative impact on their daily life, where as there were no significant differences between the groups with regard to general emotions. The logistic regression analysis showed that phobic avoid ance was predicted only by anticipated dental anxiety and missing teeth. It was concluded that differences between high dental fear patients with regu lar dental care and phobic avoidance were mainly related to anticipated fea r and anxiety, oral health effects, and concomitant negative life consequen ces. These results are discussed in terms of subjective stress, negative co gnitions, social support, and coping-strategies.