Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan 24:8:2.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6831-8-2.

Cognitive vulnerability and dental fear

Jason M Armfield  1 , Gary D Slade, A John Spencer
Affiliations

Cognitive vulnerability and dental fear

Jason M Armfield et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: The Cognitive Vulnerability Model proposes that perceptions of certain characteristics of a situation are critical determinants of fear. Although the model is applicable to all animal, natural environment and situational fears, it has not yet been applied specifically to dental fear. This study therefore aimed to examine the association between dental fear and perceptions of dental visits as uncontrollable, unpredictable and dangerous.

Methods: The study used a clustered, stratified national sample of Australians aged 15 years and over. All participants were asked in a telephone interview survey to indicate their level of dental fear. Participants who received an oral examination were subsequently provided with a self-complete questionnaire in which they rated their perceptions of uncontrollability, unpredictability and dangerousness associated with dental visiting.

Results: 3937 participants were recruited. Each of the three vulnerability-related perceptions was strongly associated with the prevalence of high dental fear. In a logistic regression analysis, uncontrollability and dangerousness perceptions were significantly associated with high dental fear after controlling for age and sex. However, unpredictability perceptions did not have a statistically significant independent association with dental fear after controlling for all other variables.

Conclusion: Results are mostly consistent with the Cognitive Vulnerability Model of the etiology of fear, with perceptions of uncontrollability, unpredictability and dangerousness each showing a strong bivariate relationship with high dental fear prevalence. However, more extensive measures of vulnerability perceptions would be valuable in future investigations.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cognitive Vulnerability Model of the elicitation of a fear response to dental stimuli.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of responses regarding perceptions of uncontrollability, unpredictability and dangerousness associated with going to the dentist.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prevalence (and 95% CI) of participants with high dental fear (moderate to extreme) by perceptions of uncontrollability, unpredictability and dangerousness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Locker D. Psychosocial consequences of dental fear and anxiety. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31:144–151. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0528.2003.00028.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4. Washington, DC: APA; 1994.
    1. Eitner S, Wichmann M, Paulsen A, Holst S. Dental anxiety – an epidemiological study on its clinical correlation and effects on oral health. J Oral Rehabil. 2006;33:588–593. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2842.2005.01589.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Samorodnitzky GR, Levin L. Self-assessed dental status, oral behavior, DMF, and dental anxiety. J Dent Educ. 2005;69:1385–1389. - PubMed
    1. Schuller AA, Willumsen T, Holst D. Are there differences in oral health and oral health behavior between individuals with high and low dental fear? Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2003;31:116–121. doi: 10.1034/j.1600-0528.2003.00026.x. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources