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Assessment of the Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among Palestinian Clients Attending Dental Clinics in Bethlehem City: Cross Sectional Study

Received: 7 November 2014    Accepted: 24 November 2014    Published: 27 November 2014
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Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety as well as the relationships between socio-demographic data and perceived dental anxiety among Palestinian clients who attend dental clinics in Palestine. Materials and methods: Participants were recruited into the study from July to August, 2013 from several dental clinics. The modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was used to measure dental anxiety among the study population. Results: One hundred and sixty four respondents returned the questionnaire after they filled it while in the reception area waiting their turn to see the dentists. Findings reveal that more than one third of the participants experienced a severe level of dental anxiety and were anxious mostly about tooth drilling and local anesthetic injection. Females experienced significantly more dental anxiety than males, but the relationships with other socio-demographic data (including education, place of residency, marital status, and visit habits ) were not significant. Conclusion: This study found high prevalence of dental anxiety which may represent special challenges to the dentists to treat individuals with dental fear. Non of the socio-demographic data except gender revealed statistically significant relation with dental anxiety among the study population Further studies are required to investigate the factors that may lead to increased the prevalence of this phenomena among the Palestinian clients.

Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13
Page(s) 197-202
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Dental Anxiety, Prevalence, Cross Sectional Study, Socio-Demographic Variables

References
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  • APA Style

    Muna Ahmead, Ahmad Rahhal. (2014). Assessment of the Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among Palestinian Clients Attending Dental Clinics in Bethlehem City: Cross Sectional Study. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3(6), 197-202. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13

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    ACS Style

    Muna Ahmead; Ahmad Rahhal. Assessment of the Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among Palestinian Clients Attending Dental Clinics in Bethlehem City: Cross Sectional Study. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2014, 3(6), 197-202. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13

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    AMA Style

    Muna Ahmead, Ahmad Rahhal. Assessment of the Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among Palestinian Clients Attending Dental Clinics in Bethlehem City: Cross Sectional Study. Psychol Behav Sci. 2014;3(6):197-202. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13,
      author = {Muna Ahmead and Ahmad Rahhal},
      title = {Assessment of the Prevalence of Dental Anxiety among Palestinian Clients Attending Dental Clinics in Bethlehem City: Cross Sectional Study},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {197-202},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20140306.13},
      abstract = {Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety as well as the relationships between socio-demographic data and perceived dental anxiety among Palestinian clients who attend dental clinics in Palestine. Materials and methods: Participants were recruited into the study from July to August, 2013 from several dental clinics. The modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was used to measure dental anxiety among the study population. Results: One hundred and sixty four respondents returned the questionnaire after they filled it while in the reception area waiting their turn to see the dentists. Findings reveal that more than one third of the participants experienced a severe level of dental anxiety and were anxious mostly about tooth drilling and local anesthetic injection. Females experienced significantly more dental anxiety than males, but the relationships with other socio-demographic data (including education, place of residency, marital status, and visit habits ) were not significant. Conclusion: This study found high prevalence of dental anxiety which may represent special challenges to the dentists to treat individuals with dental fear. Non of the socio-demographic data except gender revealed statistically significant relation with dental anxiety among the study population Further studies are required to investigate the factors that may lead to increased the prevalence of this phenomena among the Palestinian clients.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AU  - Muna Ahmead
    AU  - Ahmad Rahhal
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    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13
    T2  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
    JF  - Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20140306.13
    AB  - Objective: To investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety as well as the relationships between socio-demographic data and perceived dental anxiety among Palestinian clients who attend dental clinics in Palestine. Materials and methods: Participants were recruited into the study from July to August, 2013 from several dental clinics. The modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) was used to measure dental anxiety among the study population. Results: One hundred and sixty four respondents returned the questionnaire after they filled it while in the reception area waiting their turn to see the dentists. Findings reveal that more than one third of the participants experienced a severe level of dental anxiety and were anxious mostly about tooth drilling and local anesthetic injection. Females experienced significantly more dental anxiety than males, but the relationships with other socio-demographic data (including education, place of residency, marital status, and visit habits ) were not significant. Conclusion: This study found high prevalence of dental anxiety which may represent special challenges to the dentists to treat individuals with dental fear. Non of the socio-demographic data except gender revealed statistically significant relation with dental anxiety among the study population Further studies are required to investigate the factors that may lead to increased the prevalence of this phenomena among the Palestinian clients.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • Faculty of Public Health, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem, Palestine

  • Faculty of Dentistry, Arab American University, Jenin, Palestine

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