Dental anxiety and self-perceived stress in Lithuanian University of Health sciences hospital patients. A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Dental anxiety is a serious problem that influences both mental and physical patient's health. Earlier studies have associated it with avoidance of dental visits and poor oral health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of dental anxiety in a Lithuanian population and investigate its association with perceived stress as well as demographic factors and dental-anxiety-inducing stimuli.

Material and methods: This study was based on a face-to-face questionnaire consisting of DAS (Dental Anxiety Scale), PSS (Perceived Stress Scale) and an author questionnaire about specific dental-anxiety-inducing stimuli. Based on the questionnaires, a fear score (FS) was calculated for each respondent. Bivariate logistic regression was used to determine associations between DAS, PSS, and FS.

Results: In total 431 patients took part in the study. The mean DAS score was 9.59. Higher perceived stress was associated with age, sex, marital status, income, and weekly hours of work. A positive correlation was found between PSS and DAS scores. A positive correlation was found between FS sum and PSS score. Women had a higher average FS sum than men.

Conclusion: This study revealed that dental anxiety is still highly prevalent, as almost half of the study population had some level of dental anxiety. As this study shows that perceived stress plays a significant role in dental anxiety, dentists should take special care when working with patients that may be experiencing higher levels stress.