Assessment of prevalence of dental anxiety among patients visiting to dental institute

Introduction Every person has fear or phobia for certain things, and in all that going to visit a dentist is one of the most common precursors of anxiety. Many people increase their heart rate by the name of dentist. The reason could be fear of needle, the noise of drilling and most common….. the myths which roam around in the society concerning to dental treatments. Dental anxiety differs among the people according to their socio-demographic factors. So, the present study was conducted to find out the dental anxiety among patients who visited dental institute. To assess and compare the prevalence of dental anxiety among the patients according to their age, gender, education, income and their previous dental visit. Material & Methods A cross sectional survey was conducted among the out patients visited to Ranjeet Deshmukh Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur for over a period of ten months. A modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS) was used to measure the level of dental anxiety. Results Among 611 patients, about 81 (13.26%) patients had high dental anxiety, 61 (9.98%) low to moderate and 469 (76.76%) were found to be not anxious for dental treatment. Conclusion The dental anxiety of the present study population was less. In comparison; female patients and patients with low in education and earning had found to be highly anxious. Key Words: Dental anxiety, Dental institute, Prevalence