Assessment of dental fear and anxiety levels in eating disorder patients undergoing minor oral surgery.

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of dental fear and anxiety in women with eating disorders (EDs) scheduled for oral surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 61 patients with EDs, an identical number of age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls, and 2 consecutive, randomly selected, clinical and nonclinical samples each consisting of 220 female subjects were included in the present study. The participants completed the demographic and clinical forms, as well as the modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS) and dental fear survey (DFS) before the surgical procedure.

RESULTS: The mean scores of the MDAS and DFS for the study population correlated negatively with age and positively with a previous unpleasant experience related to dentistry (P < .01 for both). Patients with EDs had significantly greater mean scores on the MDAS than the clinical and nonclinical groups (P < .05 for both). Their mean scores on the DFS were significantly greater than those for the nonclinical participants (P < .05). A significant difference was found in the DFS subscale "fear of specific situations and stimuli" compared with the healthy matched controls and clinical and nonclinical subjects (P < .05 for all).

CONCLUSION: The results of our study have shown that patients with EDs can be more sensitive to the auditory, visual, and contact stimuli of the oral surgery procedures under local anesthesia. They also had greater levels of dental fear and anxiety than routine clinical patients and randomly selected subjects from a nonclinical environment.