Evaluation of fear of injections and its association with avoidance of dental treatment

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the intensity of needle phobia and to evaluate the different dimensions of fear of dental injections to help provide better care to the patients. Materials and Methods: A simple random technique was used and 250 adult patients above 18 years of age were selected who attended outpatients Department of Operative Dentistry, Baqai Dental College. A modified form of the structured questionnaire used by Milgrom et al. was generated. The items were scored based on the 5-point traditional Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Data were analyzed for descriptive analysis (mean, standard deviation) using the software SPSS version 19. Association of gender with fear of dental injections was evaluated using Chi-squared test (P = 0.05). Results: There was a statistically significant difference in fear of dental injections among male and female subjects. The most fearful aspect of dental injection was found to be fear of cross-infection. Fears associated with local anesthesia, for example, inadequate numbness, adverse reaction, and trouble in breathing or swallowing were the least common fears reported by the patients. Conclusion: This study highlighted that understanding the nature and extent of patients′ fear of injection is important for dentists to expand their knowledge of the association of fear of dental needles for the impact on the treatment outcome and reluctance of the patients intervene.