Galit Almoznino1, Avraham Zini2, Yair Sharav3, Robert Yanko3, Alex Lvovsky4, Doron J Aframian3. 1. Department of Oral Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Oral Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Center, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. Electronic address: galit@almoznino.com. 2. Department of Community Dentistry, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. 3. Department of Oral Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. 4. Department of Oral Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Center, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Forces, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dental anxiety (DA) and gagging (GAG) are prevalent problems that severely impact social behavior and quality of life. Furthermore, because dental phobia is considered a Blood-Injection-Injury (B-I-I) phobia, the present study contrasted DA, GAG and control subjects regarding the severity of dental anxiety and investigated the comorbidity of GAG, DA and B-I-I fears. METHODS: Demographics, Verbal Pain Scale (VPS), Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), Decay, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and response to phobic stimuli were collected from 53 GAG, 68 DA and 80 control subjects. RESULTS: GAGs exhibited results between DA and controls regarding the likelihood to have high-anxiety/phobia (DA group: OR=55.56; GAG group: OR=17.24), self-assessed dental anxiety (OR=29.14; OR=17.48), fear of dental injections (OR=8.51; OR=2.91) and dental drills (OR=12.02; OR=5.82). DA and GAG had similar results regarding: DAS score (p=0.13), fear of blood tests (OR=4.68; OR=4.09) and blood donations (OR=3.13; OR=3.10). Overlap between GAG, DA and a B-I-I fear was observed. GAG and DA patients and worse maximal VPS and OHIP-14 scores retained their significant positive association with the DAS score in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The co-occurrence of DA, GAG and B-I-I-related fears suggests these entities are linked. However, different anxiety levels, symptoms and triggers, reflect the broad spectrum of fear of medical/dental situations.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Dental anxiety (DA) and gagging (GAG) are prevalent problems that severely impact social behavior and quality of life. Furthermore, because dental phobia is considered a Blood-Injection-Injury (B-I-I) phobia, the present study contrasted DA, GAG and control subjects regarding the severity of dental anxiety and investigated the comorbidity of GAG, DA and B-I-I fears. METHODS: Demographics, Verbal Pain Scale (VPS), Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14), Decay, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and response to phobic stimuli were collected from 53 GAG, 68 DA and 80 control subjects. RESULTS: GAGs exhibited results between DA and controls regarding the likelihood to have high-anxiety/phobia (DA group: OR=55.56; GAG group: OR=17.24), self-assessed dental anxiety (OR=29.14; OR=17.48), fear of dental injections (OR=8.51; OR=2.91) and dental drills (OR=12.02; OR=5.82). DA and GAG had similar results regarding: DAS score (p=0.13), fear of blood tests (OR=4.68; OR=4.09) and blood donations (OR=3.13; OR=3.10). Overlap between GAG, DA and a B-I-I fear was observed. GAG and DA patients and worse maximal VPS and OHIP-14 scores retained their significant positive association with the DAS score in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The co-occurrence of DA, GAG and B-I-I-related fears suggests these entities are linked. However, different anxiety levels, symptoms and triggers, reflect the broad spectrum of fear of medical/dental situations.