Abstract

MARQUEZ-RODRIGUEZ, Juan Antonio; NAVARRO-LIZARANZU, Mª Cruz; CRUZ-RODRIGUEZ, Daniel  and  GIL-FLORES, Javier. Why are people afraid of the dentist?. RCOE [online]. 2004, vol.9, n.2, pp.165-174. ISSN 1138-123X.

Introduction: the aim of the current article is to describe the patient’s attitude regarding several factors hidden in dental fears. Patients and methods: An survey has been performed among 399 patients who visited the Dental department of the Public Health Center localized in Lepe (Huelva, Spain). The questionnaire used included 19 items. The statistical data processing was carried out with the help of the specific software SPSS, version 9.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill, 1999). Results: Analysing the factorial composition of dental fears scale, we detected four factors. The main factor is related to therapeutic actions that may cause physical damage, while factors not related to the professional field generate less fear. Conclusion: among dental fears, it has been possible to differentiate four aspects or dimensions that could represent answers to the question about why people are afraid of the dentist. Two of these dimensions, which generate a low level fear, are the so-called non-professional aspects and treatment inherent aspects. However, the other two dimensions do provoke a certain degree of fear and consist in factors related to the treatment received at a personal level and professional malpractice.

Keywords : Dental fears; Dental anxiety; Public health system.

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