Dental Anxiety in During Different Dental Treatments (DENANX)

The data collection tool is an 8-question, 4-point Likert-type scale based on the MDAS, which has been validated for reliability and accuracy. The questions is designed to assess the anxiety levels of participants prior to scheduled dental procedures.

The participants' responses are scored on a scale of 0-3 to indicate their level of anxiety and stress. A score of 0 indicated no anxiety, 1 indicated mild anxiety, 2 moderate indicated anxiety, and 3 indicated severe anxiety and stress. The dental anxiety level is determined based on the sum of scores given to the eight relevant questions, which ranged from 0 to 24 and is used to calculate the MDAS score. The MDAS score is then compared to the following cut-off values to determine the level of dental anxiety: a score of 0 indicated no anxiety, 1-8 indicated mild anxiety, 9-16 indicated moderate anxiety, and 17-24 indicated severe anxiety.

Demographic outcomes are as follows; age, sex, marital status, number of children, education level, and occupation.

To assess participants' experiences and attitudes toward oral and dental health, including frequency of toothbrushing and dental treatment, previous dental experiences, and pre-treatment anxiety levels. In the questionnaire, which is a data collection tool, the frequency of tooth brushing is asked with the options of 1/day / 2 times a day / 1/week / 2-3 times a week, and the dental treatments in the past are asked to mark. They were also asked to tick how they found their experience (good/medium/bad) following these treatments. There are multiple choice questions to understand the presence of dental anxiety before treatment and what triggers it.

To assess participants' experience of dental anxiety, including its level, cause, onset, physical symptoms, and coping mechanisms. Additionally, it will be examined environmental triggers that contribute to dental anxiety, such as noise from equipment and the sight of sharp instruments, and the length of time it took for anxiety to peak. The objective of this section is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the participants' dental anxiety, its causes, and their self-coping strategies, as well as the impact of environmental factors on their anxiety levels.