Dental Anxiety Before Removal of a Third Molar and Association With General Trait Anxiety

Lago-Méndez, Lucía; Diniz-Freitas, Marcio; Senra-Rivera, Carmen; Seoane-Pesqueira, Gloria; Gándara-Rey, José-Manuel; Garcia-Garcia, Abel

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2006.05.030

« Previous Next »Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 64, Issue 9 , Pages 1404-1408, September 2006

Dental Anxiety Before Removal of a Third Molar and Association With General Trait Anxiety

Lucía Lago-Méndez, DDS
- Postgraduate Student, Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine Unit, Dental School, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Marcio Diniz-Freitas, DDS
- Postgraduate Student, Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine Unit, Dental School, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Carmen Senra-Rivera, PhD
- Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Gloria Seoane-Pesqueira, PhD
- Professor, Department of Methodology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
José-Manuel Gándara-Rey, MD, PhD, DDS
- Professor of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Abel Garcia-Garcia, MD, PhD
- Professor of Oral Surgery, School of Dentistry; and Head of Section, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Garcia-Garcia: University of Santiago de Compostela, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago, Department of Stomatology, Entrerrios s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to evaluate dental anxiety in patients consulting for third molar removal, and to assess possible relationships with general trait anxiety.

Materials and Methods

Dental anxiety was measured using Corah’s Anxiety Scale (DAS), the Dental Fear Survey (DFS), and the state anxiety scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Trait anxiety was measured with the trait anxiety scale of the STAI.

Results

Trait anxiety showed significant positive correlations with both DAS score and DFS score. The 3 measures of dental anxiety all showed significant positive correlations with each other. The difference between men and women was only statistically significant in the case of trait anxiety.