Determination of the Relationship Between Dental Anxiety and Oral Hygiene Awareness

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dental & oral hygiene and oral health awareness. Methods: A total of 431 subjects were included in the study. The questionnaire was sent to the subjects over the internet and asked to fill out the questionnaire forms. The first part of the questionnaire included questions about sociodemographic findings such as age, gender, frequency of dental visits, frequency of brushing, use of extra dental instruments and awareness of oral hygiene. The second part includes the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and measures subjects' dental anxiety levels. Results: Based on the “cut off” value of ≥19, 6.7% (n=29) of the 431 participants were found to have high dental anxiety levels. While females (11.35±4.49) had higher dental anxiety than males (10.43±4.12) and there was a statistically significant difference between MDAS levels by gender (p=0.046); No statistically significant difference was found according to education levels (p=0.680). While there was a statistically significant difference between the dental anxiety levels of the participants who use interface brushes and those who do not (p=0.028); A statistically high degree of significance was found between dental anxiety levels according to the frequency of going to the dentist (p