Assessment of Dental Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Surgical Extraction of Teeth: Study from Western Maharashtra

Background: Dental treatment involving anaesthetic injection and surgical extraction of teeth causes anxiety and fear, resulting in emotional uneasiness, prolonging the intervention and complicating postoperative recovery. Aims: To quantitate the anxiety level associated with patient undergoing surgical extraction of teeth and to compare the anxiety levels between males and females. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 100 patients who reported to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, requiring surgical extraction of teeth. Patients were randomly enrolled for the study, as and when they reported to the department. Patients were given a questionnaire before surgical removal of teeth. The anxiety levels were evaluated based on the scores of the Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale. Results: The results of the present study showed that the dental anxiety was higher among the subjects undergoing surgical extraction of teeth. Female patients had higher dental anxiety and fear than male patients and the difference in the anxiety level between male and female patients was statistically significant. Conclusion: In conclusion, a maxillofacial surgeons should consider that patients initially visit dental office for treatment of surgical extraction of teeth with severe anxiety which could be due to conditioning or learned responses which these patients might have experienced. Thus a prior awareness of the patient’s predisposition to dental anxiety may be of value, enabling to take appropriate measures pre-operatively. Thus our aim is to give anxiety free dental treatment to the patients and better postoperative recovery