Assessment Of Dental Anxiety among Patients Requiring Dental Treatment with Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale - A Questionnaire Survey

Background: Dental treatment remains question of fear and anxiety among most of the patients. Aim: This study was done to assess dental anxiety among patients requiring dental treatment. Materials & Methods: 240 patients requiring dental treatment were subjected to Corah's Dental Anxiety scale to assess anxiety level which comprised of four questions and response was recorded. Results: Out of 240 patients, males were 110 (45.8%) and females were 130 (54.2%). In response to question of feeling of subjects to visit dentist tomorrow, 66.6% had feeling of painful, unpleasant and scary. In response to question, How do you feel during sitting in waiting's area of dental office, 50% responded that they are so anxious that they feel physically sick or sometimes break out in a sweat, 20.8% were anxious and 25% were tensed. In response to question, How do you feel when dentist is getting ready his drill to work on teeth, 33.3% responded that they are so anxious that they feel physically sick or sometimes break out in a sweat. In response to question, How will you feel when the dentist or hygienist is getting out the instruments which will be used to scrape your teeth around the gums, 27% were uneasy. Conclusion: Authors found that most of the patients were highly anxious about dental treatment. Assessment of patient anxiety may be helpful in adopting alternative methods such as behavior modification, biofeedback mechanism etc. before starting dental treatment.