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Predicting anxiety during dental treatment using patients'self-reports: less is more
Lisa J Heaton1, Charles R Carlson, Timothy A Smith
1University of Washington, Department of Dental Public Health Sciences, Seattle, WA 98195-7475, USA. lheaton@u.washington.edu
Background:
Self-reported dental fear measures seldom are used in clinical practice to assess patients' fears. This study examined how well dental fear measures predicted anxious behaviors displayed during dental treatment.
Methods:
One hundred eight adult patients (54 percent female) in a periodontology clinic completed several paper-and-pencil demographic, dental fear and general anxiety measures before treatment. Dental practitioners, blinded to their patients' responses, rated their patients' anxiety during treatment on a series of 100-millimeter visual analog scales.
Results:
Higher Dental Fear Survey scores, younger age, more invasive treatment type and previous avoidance of dental care because of a bad experience all were predictive of greater observed anxiety. Neither self-reported nor observed anxiety was affected by previous experience with a particular practitioner or treatment.
Conclusions:
Dentists may assess patients' anxiety quickly and accurately with the Dental Fear Survey or a similar measure, as well as by asking patients about their current dental attendance and previous dental experiences.
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