Reliability and validity of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) in a Turkish population

– Objectives: Fear of dentistry is a common obstacle to obtaining dental care in Turkey. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability, validity and psychometric characteristics of the Turkish translation of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and compare it to the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) scores obtained in the same population. Methods: The Turkish translated version of the MDAS was administered to 115 dental patients; 21 subjects who suffered from dental phobia, requiring general anesthesia for dental procedures, and 94 who did not have dental anxiety, in addition to 442 subjects from the general population. Results: The Turkish translated version of the MDAS was internally consistent and reproducible. The patients with dentist phobia had the highest score. The Turkish MDAS correlated with the DFS (r = 0.80, P