Experiência odontológica traumática e a ansiedade frente a tratamentos odontológicos em estudantes universitários

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety for dentists and dental treatments can be understood as a response to situations where a source of threat to an individual is not well defined, can present itself in an ambiguous way, the subject might not necessarily be presented and associated with previous experiences considered traumatic. Dental fear, on the other hand, is a primary emotion that can trigger serious reflexes in adulthood, prompting individuals to avoid subsequent dental treatments. Objective: To verify the association between a traumatic dental experience, other sociodemographic criteria and dental anxiety among undergraduate students of a public institution of higher education. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational and analytical study. It was held at State University of Paraíba, with the participation of 633 students from four different courses: Dentistry, Mathematics, Pedagogy and Psychology. Modified Dental Anxiety Scale - MDAS (to assess dental anxiety), as well as considerations sociodemographic resources. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistical for the evaluation of traumatic odontological experience and techniques and multivariate statistics through the analysis of structural equations. Results: Most of the students were female (71.4%), and 41% of the total participants reported experiencing traumatic dental experience, being performed mainly in 6-10 years (33.8%) and 11-15 years (27%). The statistical model of structural equation revealed reliability in the parameters of assessment of dental anxiety by the MDAS instrument (Estimates 0.777 - 0.898; p <0.001) in the sample of participants. The model also evaluated the direct influences of the interest variables on anxiety and higher occurrence of traumatic dental experiences. Women (p = 0.001), studying on other non-dental courses (p <0.001), who reported traumatic dental experiences (p <0.001) has shown higher occurrence of traumatic dental experiences. Individuals with more advanced age has shown higher occurrence of traumatic dental experiences as well (p <0.001). Also, indirect influence of age, when mediated by the occurrence of traumatic odontological experiences on dental anxiety indexes was observed (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The analyzes suggest a relation of association where women, undergraduate of courses other than Dentistry and with a history of previous traumatic dental experiences are more likely to exhibit higher levels of dental anxiety. In addition, older individuals are more likely to report traumatic odontological experiences and age, even without showing direct influence on anxiety levels, exhibits a significant indirect effect when mediated by the occurrence of traumatic dental experiences on levels of dental anxiety.