Study of Dental Anxiety among Patients Referred to Private Offices in Mashhad

Patient's anxiety and thus not referring to detal offices for receiving dental services may inappropriately affect inadequately on community development indicators. There are limited studies in this area, and the results are usually inconsistent. This study was then carried out with the aim of determining the dental anxiety among patients referred to private offices in Mashhad. In this descriptive study, a total number of 400 patients who had referred to private dental offices in Mashhad entered in the study. Data were then collected using Dental Anxiety Scale. Validity and reliability of the scale was determined and approved in the previous studies. Data were analyzed through SPSS software using T-Test, ANOVA, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, and Spearman Correlation Coefficient.Of all the participants, 16.8% of participants had mild, 58.8% moderate and 24.8% severe dental anxiety. Mean score of dental anxiety was higher in women (12.4±3.91) than men (9.19±3.89) (p<0.001). Divorced and dead couple subjects (13.39±4) had a higher level of dental anxiety than the married and singles. Regarding the job, the highest level of dental anxiety was observed in the housewives (12.89±3.77). Dental anxiety was negatively correlated with age (r=-0.125, p= 0.013), number of dental visit (r=-0.143, p=0.004), education level (ρ= -0.319, p<0.001) and income level (ρ= -0.415, p<0.001). As the rate of dental anxiety was higher among women especially housewives and also it was negatively correlated with age, education level and income, people with such characteristics should be addressed in educational programs in this area.