Abstract

Fear of a dental procedure can have consequences related to oral health, but also to health in general. This fear can result in a lack of adequate and regular dental care (at least once a year). Dental anxiety/phobia is one of the leading factors for why patients avoid going to the dentist. The aim of this study was to identify if people who had an unpleasant experience with a dentist in childhood are more likely to develop dental anxiety/phobia and to establish whether or not dental phobia is related to a greater sensitivity for dental pain. This study investigates if people with dental anxiety achieve higher results on the scale of anxiety state (STAI-X-1) than people who do not have dental anxiety/phobia. The results of this research confirm the hypothesis that people with an unpleasant experience with a dentist in childhood have a higher level of dental anxiety and higher anxiety state (STAI-X-1) and experience higher levels of dental pain than people who do not perceive their experience with a dentist during childhood as unpleasant or bad. Additionally, subjects with dental anxiety/phobia were less likely to visit the dentist.