Dental Anxiety is very High in The Republic Kiribati

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The objective of the study was to evaluate the levels of dental anxiety in Kiribati using the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS). One hundred participants between age of 18 and 50 years were interviewed in the capital city Tarawa. The participants rated their anxiety using DAS, with a range of possible scores between 4 (no anxiety) and 20 (maximal anxiety). One person had never been to the dentist and was excluded from analysis. 48 males and 51 females had a mean age of 30 years with a range of 18-50 years. The mean DAS was 11(SD=3.9) and ranged from 4-18. Forty-two percent of the participants were anxious ie DAS>13 with a mean age of 31 (SD=10.5) yrs. When examined by gender, males had a lower mean DAS of 10 compared with females who had a mean DAS of 12. The difference noted was of borderline significance (P=0.048). There was no relationship between age and anxiety. Almost one quarter (23%) had a high level of anxiety ie DAS>15 with a mean age of 30(SD=10.5) years. 21% of males and 26% of females had a high level of anxiety. A large proportion of the sampled population had moderate to high dental anxiety and were relatively young adults (approximately 30 years of age). This is an important public health problem for Kiribati. Such patients after being identified should be managed appropriately which may include behavioural and/or pharmacological therapy. These baseline studies can serve as reference point to monitor whether dental anxiety changes over time.

Dental Anxiety is very High in The Republic Kiribati

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