Kevin Buscemi ENC 1102 Professor Wolcott November 3, 2013 What Is Dental Anxiety?

People often dread trips to the dentist but still go while there are many people who find themselves dealing with the issue of dental anxiety. Dental anxiety is when the patient has such a great fear of the dentist that it often results in the patient avoiding dental treatment, leading to extremely poor oral health. Researchers have discovered that almost 10% of the worlds population suffers from dental anxiety, ranging from mild to severe (Stenebrand 2009). In this paper the effect of technology and modern society on the influence of dental anxiety is examined. It is expected that nearly all of the patients suffering from dental anxiety have at one point in their life experienced some sort of influence from society. However, no research has been done to examine this possibility. The studies also focused on the approaches being taken to account for the dental anxiety of many patients. Many techniques were done, including ones as simple as scents in the waiting room, and conversing with patients, to ones as serious as nitrous oxide treatment. It was shown that the majority of the techniques proved to be affective, with the medical ones being a bit more reliable. In fact, nearly half of the patients who reported having dental anxiety prior to the procedure stated that the treatment effectively reduced their anxiety almost completely (Veerkamp 1995). However, once again, there was no studies performed to see how much technology, social media, television, and other societal factors impact dental anxiety levels.

Whom Suffers From Dental Anxiety Many people have done research to find out just who is suffering from dental anxiety. Multiple studies were done to determine how ones gender, age, and past experiences influence dental anxiety amongst them and they all included some sort of questionnaire as part of their research method. For example, in Stenebrands study three different questionaires were given in an attempt to receive data that would help them compute a number describing the percentage of individuals dealing with dental anxiety. Their results revealed that a little bit less than 10 percent of individuals suffer from the disorder. Once completed, the results showed that roughly 7% of the adolescents were suffering from dental anxiety, with girls tending to be more fearful (Stenebrand 2009). Dental anxiety is more common than most people would think, and if you think about it, Im sure youve dealt with some form of dental anxiety at some point in your life, even if it was just extremely mild. Previous studies of dental anxiety show that it tends to be more common in female patients rather than males, and children as opposed to adults. The studies also showed how it is more common for one to deal with dental anxiety if they have had a previous negative dental experience that resulted in possible pain. A more serious approach to this topic is the studies that discovered a significant link between dental anxiety and poor oral health and poor emotional well-being. Roughly 75 percent of individuals who reported having both poor oral health and emotional well-being were suffering from some sort of dental anxiety, whether it be moderate or severe (Vermaire 2008). Natural Factors of Dental Anxiety

A few other studies were then performed to discover what type of people tend to be more susceptible to dealing with dental anxiety. They analyzed many different characteristics such as age, gender, and even ones overall personality. Results of the studies showed that females are more likely to suffer from dental anxiety, and the same can be said for young children. A more in depth look revealed that patients with typically shy and nervous like personalities had a much greater chance of dealing with the anxiety. To no ones surprise, the results showed that only one personality trait has a correlation with high dental anxiety; that being neuroticism (Halonen 2012). It was clearly discovered that the natural characteristics of someone has a lot to do with determining if they are likely to suffer from dental anxiety or not. However, they once again overlook any possible influenced from society that children are around each and every day. Impact of Negative Past Dental Experiences The majority of people have at some point in their lives experienced some sort of negative experience at a dental office. This can range from suffering from the uncomfortable feeling of someone touching the inside of your mouth to experiences resulting in seriously painful outcomes, such as the dentist mistakenly poking ones gum with a sharp tool. Multiple studies were done to discover that a negative past dental experience is one of the most common causes of dental anxiety. The study also showed that roughly half of the children dealing with dental anxiety suffered from some sort of painful incident during a previous dentist visit (Colares 2013). This is such a big issue and one of the most common reasons that children suffer from dental anxiety, but why has the possible influence of society been overlooked once again? There are a handful of childrens television shows and movies that have scenes with crazy and evil dentists. I think this definitely deserves some recognition, especially now that technology has excelled so much in recent years and is such a big part of childrens lives.

Project Proposal In todays world there are more children watching television and dealing with technology every day then there has ever been in the past. Extremely young children are seen walking around with modern technology such as iPads and iPhones, where they have access to an abundance of material on the World Wide Web. On their they may find possible media that may influence dental anxiety on them greatly. For example, when I was a child I remember seeing a horror movie dealing with an evil dentist who would murder his patients upon their visit; and since then I have been scarred for life. Although I dont suffer from severe dental anxiety, I am still affected by what I experienced as a child through technology and society. Also, children tend to discuss in school how they dislike the dentist and it is definitely an influential factor of dental anxiety. Hearing someones fear of something definitely increases anothers chances of later having the same fear in life. In an effort to analyze the effect of society factors on dental anxiety I will be preforming a study. Fifty randomly selected individuals will be selected from the Unvieristy of Central Florida and asked to complete a self-response questionnaire. The questionnaire will consist of questions related to ones dental anxiety levels and possible society factors that may have caused it. For example, television, social media, the news, children movies, and the radio all could have played an influence on ones dental anxiety. The responses will be collected from the individuals and then will be further examined. The data will be able to provide proof that society has played an influence on dental anxiety. It has become well known in our society that dental visits are something everybody dislikes, and

this will further prove my point. Just like we tend to view certain things the same way other people do because of how society has accepted it, the same can be said for dental visits. A negative view is often made on a trip to the dentist and for this reason it is obvious that it has influenced dental anxiety amongst numerous patients.