Components of dental fear in adults?

The functional relatedness between dental fear and multiple other fears was studied in a normative sample of 285 undergraduates. Rachman and Lopatka's work on the inter-dependence of multiple fears within individuals, as well as Lang's bioinformational theory of emotion, provided a theoretical background for this investigation. Fears about social contact, pain, mutilation (e.g. injury, blood, disfigurement), and being closed-in were assessed within the realm of verbal report; they were studied as possible components and/or concomitants of the dental fear construct. Multiple regression analyses with these variables utilized the Dental Fear Survey total score as a criterion variable. Fear of pain was found to be the most significant predictor of dental fear in both males and females. For females only, mutilation fear was the next strongest determinant. Fear of being closed-in was an additional significant dental fear predictor for both sexes. The possible role of social fears in the manifestation of dental fear was not confirmed and awaits further investigation. Results were consistent with the idea that there may often be a moderate degree of functional dependence between dental fear and the other fears identified here.