Inside the waiting room: process drama and dramatic distancing for involving children in research on dental anxiety

Assessment of patients' dental anxiety levels in the context of infectious diseases: development and validation of Musa Kazim's Dental Anxiety Scale (MK-DAS)

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to develop and validate a new scale called Musa Kazim's Dental Anxiety Scale (MK-DAS) to measure dental anxiety in relation to infectious diseases.

METHODS

The study utilized a cross-sectional design and recruited participants from Faculty of Dentistry, Altinbas University. The sample included 289 participants who were seeking dental treatment. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was employed for the purpose of assessing levels of dental anxiety. In contrast, the MK-DAS, comprised a series of seven inquiries specifically targeting concerns regarding the treatment procedure and the fear of contagion. The data was analyzed using various statistical methods, including descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, criterion validity, cluster analysis for cut-off points, and test-retest reliability.

RESULTS

The factor analysis revealed that MK-DAS had a two-factor structure. The first factor consisted of five items related to various aspects of the treatment process (α:0.837), while the second factor included two items related to the fear of infectious diseases (α:0.747). The scale showed good reliability, as indicated by high Cronbach's alpha coefficients for both factors. Strong positive correlations were found between MDAS and the first factor of MK-DAS (r = 0.857; p < 0.01), moderate positive correlations between MDAS and the second factor (r = 0.323; p < 0.01), and a strong positive correlation between MDAS and the overall of MK-DAS (r = 0.782; p < 0.01). Additionally, the cluster analysis yielded a cut-off score of 17 based on the k-means analysis. Moreover, test-retest reliability analyses indicated that dimension 1 (ICC: 0.904), dimension 2 (ICC: 0.840), and overall MK-DAS (ICC: 0.944) demonstrated high internal consistency.

CONCLUSION

The MK-DAS is an innovative and modern dental anxiety scale that has been proven to be reliable and valid, surpassing the comprehensiveness of the MDAS.

The Relationship between Dental Fear and Anxiety, General Anxiety/Fear, Sensory Over-Responsivity, and Oral Health Behaviors and Outcomes: A Conceptual Model

Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is common across the lifespan and represents a barrier to proper oral health behaviors and outcomes. The aim of this study is to present a conceptual model of the relationships between DFA, general anxiety/fear, sensory over-responsivity (SOR), and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes. Two rounds of literature searches were performed using the PubMed database. Included articles examined DFA, general anxiety/fear, SOR, catastrophizing, and/or oral health behaviors and outcomes in typically developing populations across the lifespan. The relationships between the constructs were recorded and organized into a conceptual model. A total of 188 articles were included. The results provided supporting evidence for relationships between DFA and all other constructs included in the model (general anxiety/fear, SOR, poor oral health, irregular dental attendance, dental behavior management problems [DBMP], and need for treatment with pharmacological methods). Additionally, SOR was associated with general anxiety/fear and DBMP; general anxiety/fear was linked to poor oral health, irregular attendance, and DBMP. This model provides a comprehensive view of the relationships between person factors (e.g., general anxiety/fear, SOR, and DFA) and oral health behaviors and outcomes. This is valuable in order to highlight connections between constructs that may be targeted in the development of new interventions to improve oral health behaviors and outcomes as well as the experience of DFA.