Dental Anxiety and Fear among Medical Field Students at Al Quds University

Aims: This study aimed to assess the levels of dental anxiety among dental, medical, and pharmacy students at AL Quds University and to find out the sources of dental fear among them.
Study Design: Retrospective study.
Place and Duration of Study: AL Quds University, between June, 2012-July, 2013.
Methodology: Dental anxiety scale (DAS) and Dental Fear Survey (DFS) were completed by four hundred and five students (113 males and 292 females). The population included undergraduate dental (n=198), medical (n=114) and pharmacy students (n=93). Ages ranged from 18 to 27 (the mean age of the subjects was 22.5±2.1 years).
Results: Dental students were significantly less anxious (using the dental anxiety scale) compared to the other groups (medical and pharmacy students) (P<0.05). Dental students were significantly more relaxed in the dental treatment as assessed by DFS than other groups (medical and pharmacy students (P<0.05)). Fear of seeing the anesthetic needle (39.2%) and feeling the needle injection (46.2%) were the most common sources of dental fear reactions among the study population. The Pearson correlations (rp) between the measurements DAS and DFS mean scores were evaluated and the correlation is significant (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Dental students have a significantly lower level of dental anxiety than medical and pharmacy students. Females showed higher fear scores than males. Seeing the anesthetic needles and feeling the anesthetic solutions injection were the major stimuli of dental fear.