Ansiedade frente ao tratamento odontológico: prevalência e fatores predictores em brasileiros

• Main Author: Carvalho, Ricardo Wathson Feitosa de
• Publication Date: 2012
• Other Authors: Falcão, Paulo Germano de Carvalho Bezerra, Campos, Gustavo José de Luna, Bastos, Alliny de Souza, Pereira, José Carlos, Pereira, Maria Auxiliadora da Silva, Cardoso, Maria do Socorro Orestes, Vasconcelos, Belmiro Cavalcanti do Egito
• Format: Article
• Language: por
• Source: Repositório Institucional da UFS
• Download full: https://ri.ufs.br/jspui/handle/riufs/23299
• topic: Ansiedade ao tratamento odontológico; Assistência odontológica; Prevalência; Anxiety regarding dental treatment; Dental care; Prevalence

Considering the negative impact anxiety can exert over dental treatment, the scope of this study was to determine the prevalence of predictors of anxiety regarding dental treatment among Brazilians. A cross-sectional study was carried out using the Corah dental anxiety scale to assess the degree of anxiety regarding dental treatment among 3000 patients. The results reveal that two out of every eight Brazilian patients manifest moderate to severe anxiety regarding dental treatment. In this sample, the degree of anxiety was higher among females (p=0.007), over 20 years of age (p=0.006), without access to the Internet and/or newspapers (p=0.016), with a low frequency of oral hygiene (p=0.001), for whom the reason for the dental appointment was curative treatment, pain or another problem rather than a check up (p=0.047) and those suffering from toothache (p<0.001). Fear and anxiety regarding dental treatment indeed exist in the Brazilian population and the findings of this study suggest that, besides the lack of economic resources, negligence with respect to oral health, gender and age may increase the degree of anxiety.