DENTAL ANXIETY LEVELS IN RELATION TO NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS AMONG ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS IN PEDIATRICS CLINICS

Akshay Gupta; Sakshi Bamba; Anur Gupta; S. Vikram; Veronika Dogra; Chitra Anandani

Volume : VI, Issue : VIII, August - 2016

DENTAL ANXIETY LEVELS IN RELATION TO NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS AMONG ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS IN PEDIATRICS CLINICS

Akshay Gupta, Sakshi Bamba, Anur Gupta, S. Vikram, Veronika Dogra, Chitra Anandani

Abstract :

Background: This study was to determine the level of anxiety among orthodontic patients in relation to appointments, gender and age as anxiety among dental patients is commonly problematic.Methods: This cross–sectional study was performed in the department of paedtricts dentistry and private dental clinics. The Modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was applied for evaluating the levels of dental phobia. The questionnaire consists of five questions on anxiety levels. Each question scores a maximum of five points, and the total scores ranged from 4 and 20. Student’s t test and ANOVA were used to identify the differences between genders and age respectively. The significance level was set at ???? ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 152 patients receiving orthodontic therapy were taken into the study. The age of patients was ranging 10 to 15 years of which 73 were boys and 79 were girls. It was observed that most of the participants were with low level of anxiety followed by moderate level. Overall anxiety scores were decreasing from the first appointment of the patient (1st appointment) to 3rd appointment. The mean scores of anxiety were also decreasing as the age advances. Conclusion: The study showed a comparatively low level of anxiety among the patients and furthermore the level was declining with the number of appointments.