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Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) are problems suffered by many people worldwide. While dental fear has been defined as 'a normal unpleasant emotional reaction to specific threatening stimuli occurring in situations associated with dental treatment', dental anxiety is the 'excessive and unreasonable negative state experienced by dental patients'. 1 The prevalence of DFA varies from 10.0 to 29.3% in children/ adolescents and 13.0%-40.0% in adults. [1][2][3][4][5] A recent systematic review/meta-analysis specified a global estimated prevalence of DFA, high DFA and severe DFA of 15.3%, 12.4%. and 3.3% in adults accordingly. 6 DFA is a common cause of missed dental appointments and avoidance of dental care. 6,7 It is associated with poorer oral health status and higher reports of post-operative pain. 8,9 Patients with DFA are more challenging to treat and are a principal source of stress for dentists and dental hygienists/therapists (DHDTs). 10,11

BackgroundTemporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are common and affect individuals negatively.ObjectivesThis study investigated the inter‐relationship of painful TMDs with bodily pain, psychological well‐being and distress in young people from a Confucian‐heritage culture (CHC).MethodsAdolescents/young adults were recruited from a polytechnic in Singapore. While the presence/severity of painful TMDs and bodily pain were established with the DC/TMD Pain Screener (TPS) and Maciel's Pain Inventory, psychological well‐being and distress were evaluated with the Scales of Psychological Well‐being‐18 (SPWB‐18) and Patient Health Questionnaire‐4 (PHQ‐4). Statistical explorations were conducted using chi‐square/Mann–Whitney U tests, Spearman's correlation and logistic regression analyses (α = .05).ResultsAmong the 225 participants (mean age 20.1 ± 3.9 years) examined, 11.6% had painful TMDs and 68.9% experienced multisite bodily pain. Though painful TMDs were accompanied by a higher occurrence of multisite bodily pain, the overall/discrete number of bodily pain sites did not differ substantially between the ‘no TMD pain’ (NT) and ‘with TMD pain’ (WT) groups. Besides ear pain, differences in overall/discrete bodily pain scores were also insignificant. However, significant differences in environmental mastery, overall psychological distress, depression and anxiety subscale scores were discerned between the NT and WT groups. Psychological well‐being and distress were moderately and negatively correlated (rs = −.56). Multivariate analysis indicated that ear pain and psychological distress increased the prospect of painful TMDs.ConclusionThe prevalence of multi‐site bodily pain was high in young people from CHCs irrespective of the painful TMDs’ presence of painful TMDs. Enhancing environmental mastery and relieving depression/anxiety may help manage TMD pain.

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