Anxious people avoid dentists: Study

Murray Thomson, professor of dental sciences at Otago University, who led the study stated, “Usually, these people become more and more anxious through a vicious cycle of avoiding the dentist to the point where their dental condition becomes much worse.

“They then require more unpleasant treatment options such as lancing an abscess, root canal treatment or a tooth extraction; and this reinforces their dental anxiety and makes it even less likely that they will visit the dentist next time they have a problem.”

Study of 15- to 32-year-olds
Researchers looked into the anxiety levels of 1,037 participants aged 15 to 32 in the long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study.

They questioned the subjects to gauge how they felt about a visit to the dentist and found nearly a quarter of them as dentally anxious.

The participants were divided into three groups comprising of those who had always been dentally anxious (stable anxious); or developed dental anxiety later as adolescents (adolescent-onset anxious); or as adults (adult-onset anxious).

Observations by the researchers
The researchers noted that people who dread visiting the dentist are so petrified that they evade treatment until too late and end up with more tooth decay.

Statistics revealed that the stable anxious group had more rotten teeth by age five while those forming the adult-onset group were more likely to lose teeth between the ages of 26 and 32. The adolescent-onset anxious group was troubled by dental problems from the age of 15.

Another aspect highlighted by the study was that non-anxious people would have about 13 missing, decayed or filled teeth by the age of 32, while the stable anxious group would have around 22 rotten teeth by the same age.

Prodding deeper into the traits of the fearful group, the researchers discovered they had a “half empty approach to life” and were nervous about several things, such as heights, spiders, etc.

Thomson added, "The anxious ones tend to be more nervous than others, while the non-anxious tend to have more robust personalities, and are more able to cope with what life throws at them. These are the majority.”

A surprise element of the study was a recovery group that had been uneasy about dentists at the age of 15 but had stopped fretting by the time they reached 32 years.

Implications for the dentistry profession
The researchers feel the study is vital for the dentistry profession as well as the public as it gives insight into why some people are vary of a dentist.

Thomson stated, “This gives the dental profession a good understanding of what makes people dentally anxious, and to be mindful that some people can grow out of it.

“For the public, it's useful to know that, if you take the path of least resistance and avoid dental care, then in the end you will be worse off, not only dentally but also in terms of appearance, social interactions and your quality of life."

The study is published in the journal Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.