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. 2020 Sep 14;71(2):122-126.
doi: 10.1111/idj.12613. Online ahead of print.

The prevalence and impact of dental anxiety among adult New Zealanders

Ishani Sukumaran  1 , Shay Taylor  1 , W Murray Thomson  1
Affiliations

The prevalence and impact of dental anxiety among adult New Zealanders

Ishani Sukumaran et al. Int Dent J. .

Abstract

Objective: To describe the prevalence and impact of dental anxiety in the New Zealand adult population.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data from the 2009 New Zealand national oral health survey. Dental anxiety was measured using the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS).

Results: The prevalence of dental anxiety was 13.3% (95% CI = 11.4, 15.6). On average, DAS scores were higher by 14% among females, lower among those in the oldest age group (55+), higher by 10% among those in the European/Other ethnic category, and higher by 10% among those residing in the most deprived neighbourhoods. Those who were dentally anxious had greater oral disease experience and were less likely to have visited a dentist within the previous 12 months. They also had poorer oral health-related quality of life, with the highest prevalence of OHIP-14 impacts observed in dentally anxious 35- to 54-year-olds.

Conclusions: Dental anxiety is a dental public health problem. It is an important contributor to poor oral health and care avoidance among New Zealanders. There is a need to develop both clinical and population-level interventions aimed at reducing the condition's prevalence and impact.

Keywords: Dental anxiety; New Zealand; dental utilisation; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors do not have any competing interests. Access to the data used in this study was provided by Statistics New Zealand under conditions designed to keep individual information secure in accordance with requirements of the Statistics Act 1975. The opinions presented are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official view of Statistics New Zealand.

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