Community Dental Health

cover art

Cover Date:
June 2016
Print ISSN:
0265 539X
Vol:
33
Issue:
2

Dental anxiety, concomitant factors and change in prevalence over 50 years

Objective: To analyse the prevalence of Dental Anxiety (DA) in the general adult population of Sweden, to study concomitant factors of DA and also to compare the prevalence of DA in 1962 with that in 2013. Method: The national study for 2013 included 3,500 individuals, randomly selected from the Swedish population. The data sampling was performed as a telephone survey including 38 questions and this report is a selection of those questions with the focus on DA. The national study from 1962 was a face-to-face survey of 1,331 individuals randomly selected from the Swedish population. Both surveys were conducted by the same company. Results: In 2013, severe DA was reported in 4.7%, moderate DA in 4.5%, low DA in 9.8% and no DA in 80.9% of the subjects. Most (72.9%) of the subjects who reported severe DA attended dental care regularly. Important predictive factors of DA were age, gender, education, and self-rated poor oral
and general health. The analysis showed a decrease in the prevalence of DA between 1962 and 2013, specifically a change towards more individuals reporting no dental anxiety (38.5% vs. 80.9%) but also smaller proportions of individuals having low and high DA (46.4% vs 9.8% and 15.1% vs 9.2%, respectively). Conclusions: In this national representative sample of Swedish adults the prevalence of severe DA was 4.7% .The main finding revealed a significant decrease of the prevalence of DA over 50 years.

Key words: adult, cross-sectional, dental anxiety, epidemiology, prevalence, Sweden

doi:10.1922/CDH_3694Svensson06

Article Price
£15.00
Institution Article Price
£
Page Start
121
Page End
126
Authors
L. Svensson, M. Hakeberg, U. Wide Boman

Articles from this issue

  • Title
  • Pg. Start
  • Pg. End

  1. Editorial - Prevention of dental caries through the use of fluoride – the WHO approach
  2. 66
  3. 68

  1. Fluoride and Oral Health
  2. 69
  3. 99

  1. Child oral health in migrant families: A cross-sectional study of caries in 1-4 year old children from migrant backgrounds residing in Melbourne, Australia
  2. 100
  3. 106

  1. Choosing a measure of Health Related Quality of Life
  2. 107
  3. 115

  1. Feasibility, utility and impact of a national dental epidemiological survey of three-year-old children in England 2013
  2. 116
  3. 120

  1. Dental anxiety, concomitant factors and change in prevalence over 50 years
  2. 121
  3. 126

  1. A bi-level intervention to improve oral hygiene of older and disabled adults in low-income housing: results of a pilot study
  2. 127
  3. 132

  1. Association between child caries and maternal health-related behaviours
  2. 133
  3. 137

  1. Caries and costs: an evaluation of a school-based fluoride varnish programme for adolescents in a Swedish region
  2. 138
  3. 144

  1. Examiner reliability in fluorosis scoring: a comparison of photographic and clinical methods
  2. 145
  3. 150

  1. The mouth as a site of structural inequalities; an introduction
  2. 151
  3. 151

  1. The mouth and dis/ability
  2. 152
  3. 155

  1. Inequalities in oral health: the role of sociology
  2. 156
  3. 160

  1. The mouth as a site of structural inequalities; the experience of Aboriginal Australians
  2. 161
  3. 163

  1. Do ‘poor areas’ get the services they deserve? The role of dental services in structural inequalities in oral health
  2. 164
  3. 167

  1. Overcoming structural inequalities in oral health: the role of dental curricula
  2. 168
  3. 172