THE IMPACT OF DENTAL ANXIETY ON PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Aim of the study. Dental anxiety has an important role in the development of the periodontal disease. The aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between dental anxiety and periodontal disease. Material and methods: Data was collected between 2022 and 2023 using a self-reporting questionnaire created with the Google Forms platform. Results: High dental anxiety is correlated both with poor periodontal health (p=2.11E-86) and with strong psychosocial impact that dental aesthetics has on the quality of life (p=4.46E-56). These directly influence the frequency of visits to the dentist (P values: 4.89E-07, 9.53E-17 and 5.29E-07), as well as the time elapsed since the last professional dental hygienization (P values: 0.0008, 1.57E-17 and 5.62E-10). These three are also interconnected with general health (P values: 0.015, 3.73E-09 and 1.95E-05) and stress (P values: 5.09E-10, 1.64E-08 and 9.87E-07). In addition, BMI shows a direct relationship with dental anxiety (p=0.020), as well as with periodontal health, along with the quality of eating habits (p=0.017 and p=0.001). Conclusion: the results indicated that the severity of the periodontal disease is a result of dental anxiety, and vice versa. Therapy should be personalized for each individual following a comprehensive evaluation and should be based on the experience and expertise of the dentist, the intellectual capacity of the patient, age, cooperation, and clinical situation of the patient.