Dental Anxiety among Undergraduate Students of a National University in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the nature of dental anxiety among undergraduate students of a national university in Brunei Darussalam. Participants were undergraduate students from different faculties of a national university. It was a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire that included their personal demographics, the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) questions and questions regarding their last dental visit. The degree of anxiety was compared in relation to different factors as mentioned above. Data collected was analyzed using independent t-test and one-way ANOVA. Results showed that the frequency of dental anxiety among the undergraduate students was 70.8%. The mean total MDAS score was 12.3 ± 4.28. Females (13.5±5.12) were more dentally anxious than males (12.2±4.73) (p=0.027). There was a significant difference in the mean MDAS score (p < 0.001) when comparing patterns of dental visits with dental anxiety. More students were fearful of local anesthetic injection than getting tooth drilled. (4) Conclusion: Dental anxiety still remains as one of the obstacles that clinicians face. More studies need to be done to provide a better understanding on how dental anxiety can affect the pattern of dental visits. Future studies should explore the etiology of dental anxiety. This study helps to create awareness on the presence of dental anxiety amongst the existent population group and also to aid clinicians in identifying areas of dentistry where patients are most anxious about in order to come up with a suitable treatment plan.