The Effect of Dental Anxiety Levels of Medical Faculty Students on Oral Hygiene Behaviors

• Main Authors: Ezgi Ağadayı (Author), Seher Karahan (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Cumhuriyet University, 2022-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Aim: Aimed to evaluate the effect of dental anxiety levels of students at Sivas Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine on oral hygiene behaviors. Materials and Methods: It is descriptive, cross-sectional study and carried out between September-October 2021. It was applied online to 216 volunteers from class I-V students. Students were asked about their sociodemographic characteristics, oral hygiene behaviors and Corah Dental Anxiety Scale(C-DAS). The C-DAS questionnaire is in 5-point Likert type consisting of 4 questions (Min:4-max:20 points). Analyzes were made with the SPSS 25 program. Descriptive statistics, independent sample T-test were performed. Results: 50%(n=108) of the students were women. 78.2%(n=169) had never smoked. 33.3%(n=72) of them started brushing regularly before age of six. 58.8%(n=127) were brushing their teeth at least twice a day. The rate of brushed their teeth correctly was 49.5% (n=107). Only 24.5%(n=53) of the students changed their toothbrush every three months. Students' use of additional dental hygiene tools other than toothbrushes respectively; toothpick (37.5%, n=81), dental floss (32.4%, n=70), mouthwash (26.9%, n=58), interface brush (6%, n=13), miswak (3.7%, n=8). The mean C-DAS score was 8.8±3.7(min:4-max:20). The mean score was significantly higher for female students (9.5±3.7) than the males (8.0±3.5) (p=0.004) and those who had a toothache (9.5±4.1) in the last year than the others (8.1±3.2) (p=0.007). There was no significant difference between C-DAS score and brushing teeth twice a day or more(p=0.556). There was no significant difference between the use of additional dental hygiene tools and C-DAS score(p=0.280). Conclusion: Dental anxiety was found to be higher in women and those who had toothache in the last year. It was determined that anxiety did not affect the dental hygiene behavior.

Item Description

1302-5805
2146-2852
10.7126/cumudj.1032884