Dental anxiety in first- and final-year Indian dental students

OBJECTIVES: The study aims to investigate dental anxiety in first- and final-year undergraduate dental students in India. DESIGN: Questionnaire Study Setting: BDS Students in four University dental colleges in India carried-out during 2013 and 2014. SUBJECTS (MATERIALS AND METHODS): The students (n = 614) were assessed using a pre-tested questionnaire. We estimated the level of dental anxiety by using the Modified-Dental-Anxiety-Scale (MDAS). ANCOVA and Mann–Whitney U, and Chi-squared contingency tests were employed to analyze the extensive dataset acquired. Univariate clustering analysis and principal component regression were also applied. Students had similar demographic and lifestyle patterns. INTERVENTIONS: Assessments of the level of dental anxiety amongst undergraduate dental students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean ± SD MDAS scores for first- and final-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students were 12.96 ± 4.00 and 10.54 ± 3.41, respectively. RESULTS: Six hundred and fourteen (n = 614) students from four dental colleges were included in this study. In total 77% were female (n = 478) and 23% were male (n = 136). The mean age of the first- and final-year students were 18.31 and 21.54 years, respectively. First-year BDS students had dental anxiety score (Mean ± SD 12.96 ± 4.00) compared to that of the final year (10.54 ± 3.41), a difference which was very highly statistically significant (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION(S): Dental anxiety was moderately higher amongst first year BDS students over that of final-year students but it is lesser than the dental phobic threshold level.