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The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of dental anxiety at the time when adolescents are leaving the public dental service, and to explore the relationship at this stage between dental anxiety and some possible etiologic factors. The sample consisted of 571 18-yr-olds in high school who completed a questionnaire and three psychometric scales, the Dental Fear Scale (DFS), the Dental Beliefs Survey (DBS) and the Geer Fear Scale (GFS), in the classroom. The relationship between dental anxiety (DFS and DBS) and a total of nine possible etiologic factors was explored by the use of stepwise regression analyses, and risk estimates (odds ratio) were calculated in cross-tables. There were significant sex differences for DFS and for GFS, but not for DBS. Nineteen percent of the total sample were classified as having high dental anxiety (DFS > 59). Previous experiences of pain, phobic anxiety indexed by GFS and pain at the last dental visit entered into the stepwise regression models of both dental anxiety indices explaining 50% of the variance of DFS, but only 18% of DBS. Students who reported more than one previous experience of pain were 9.9 times more likely to report high dental anxiety as recorded by DFS than the rest of the group. The corresponding risk factor for DBS was 3.4.

The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and possible explanatory factors of dental avoidance due to dental anxiety among 12 to 18 year olds treated within the Norwegian Public Dental Service. A total of 754 20-yr-olds completed a questionnaire and three psychometric scales, the Dental Fear Scale (DFS), the Dental Beliefs Survey (DBS) and the Geer Fear Scale (GFS), and gave their consent to collect data from their dental records. A total of 169 subjects (22.4%) had high dental anxiety (DFS>59 or DBS>47 at age 20 yr), and 124 subjects (16.4%) had high frequency of missed/cancelled appointments (20% or more) during the period 12-18 yr. Forty-seven subjects (6.2%) fulfilling both of the above criteria constituted the dental avoidance group. An analysis using a stepwise regression model indicated that having had more than one painful or unpleasant treatment experience increased the risk of being included in the avoidance group by a factor of 10.9. Equally, adolescents who were not attending school (working or without specified occupation) increased the risk by a factor of 6.9, having a high caries experience by a factor of 5.0, and not having their dental treatment completed at the age of 18 yr by a factor of 4.4.

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