The prevalence of dental anxiety in patients of a university dental clinic.
Dental anxiety remains a pervasive barrier to dental treatment for many individuals, including college-age patients. In this article, the author reviews dental anxiety and examines the usefulness of assessment instruments for identifying dental anxiety. Using 2 unique assessment instruments, he examines the prevalence of dental anxiety in his university dental clinic's patient population. The 2 assessment instruments were determined to be equally effective in identifying anxious dental patients. Both instruments revealed that the average patient surveyed had low-to-mild dental anxiety. The results of this survey concur with those of previous studies of college-populations.
Woodmansey
Karl F
KF
Student Health Service, Montana State University, Bozeman 59717, USA. KarlW@Montana.EDU
D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003740:Dental Clinics; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D014495:Universities