Impact of Dentists' Attitudes and Dental Hygienists' Services on Dental Anxiety

Yang, Jeong A; Lee, Su Young; Oh, Se Jin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting dentists' attitudes and dental hygienists' services on dental anxiety in adults. The subjects were 300 adults older than 20 years of age living in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Daejeon, and Daegu. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Among the distributed questionnaires, 225 respondents were selected as subjects, excluding 74 people who did not answer and 1 person who was not faithful. Data were analyzed using statistical software with a t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple regression. As a result, the gender was slightly higher in women (54.7%) than in men, and the last dental visit was less than one year in 59.6% of respondents. Most of the respondents' educational level was higher than college level (79.1%), and the monthly income was less than 2 million won in 53.8 of respondents. This study showed that distrust of dentists affected dental anxiety and anxiety stimulation. Higher reliability of the dentist was correlated with less dental anxiety in patients. Dental anxiety showed statistically significant results in dentist subcategories of patient slight and dentists' trust (p < 0.01). Additionally, the factors affecting dental anxiety and anxiety stimulus were knowledge of dental hygienist and distrust of dentist (p < 0.01). According to this study, dentists' and dental hygienists' trust of dental staff show the importance of oral health professionals' role in reducing dental anxiety in patients. It is also suggested that efforts should be made to improve public awareness of oral health experts. It is believed that dentists, and dental hygienists need to promoted to become professionals. In addition, a variety of programs have been developed to reduce dental anxiety, so patients need to be comfortable to receive dental treatment.