Dental Anxiety- a Prospective Study among Medical and Non-Medical Subjects

Abstract

The subject of anxiety related to dental treatments is recognized and long debated in medical literature. There are various motivations, starting with individual, age-related, social, economic or strictly medical reasons. Considering the medical and psychological importance of oral health that impact the whole organism health, there is an increasingly sustained, interdisciplinary concern, with the involvement of dentists, generalists, psychologists or psychiatrists. This situation is quantified at the individual and social level with reference to both the financial costs and the organic and psychological suffering determined by this medico-psycho-social problem. This is why the authors of this article proposed in the current study to determine if there is a difference in terms of anxiety towards dental treatments in subjects trained from a medical point of view versus people without medical instruction. The study used an online questionnaire and was carried out over a period of one month in the year 2023. The data were processed with the help of LibreOffice Calc and Microsoft Excel. The conclusions of the study revealed that poor oral health can serve as a precursor to anxiety and depression, creating a link between oral hygiene and mental well-being. Oral pain, embarrassment and the resulting self-consciousness can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression, feelings that exist no matter if there were subjects trained in medical field or not, therefore individuals may have difficulty socializing, communicating, and maintaining a positive self-image.