Do dental anxiety questionnaires raise anxiety in dentally anxious adult patients? A two-wave panel study.
OBJECTIVE
To test whether or not dentally anxious patients attending the dentist for an appointment become more anxious when completing a dental anxiety questionnaire.


METHODS
Patients were initially screened to include only those who were dentally anxious. A pre- and post-test was planned with the completion of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) questionnaire as the intervention.


METHODS
Two dental access centres in the North West of England.


METHODS
Initially, 583 patients were screened. Of these, 182 (31%) were found to be dentally anxious and were recruited into the study.


METHODS
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale Short Form.


RESULTS
State anxiety did not change with the completion of the MDAS questionnaire in either designated dental phobics (MDAS >or=19) or those classified as non-phobics (MDAS <19).


CONCLUSIONS
The MDAS can be used to assess dental anxiety without raising anxiety in patients with or without self-reported dental phobia.
Humphris
Gerry M
GM
The Bute Medical School, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK. gerry.humphris@st-andrews.ac.uk
Hull
P
P
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D018881:Suburban Health; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health