The Editors welcome topical correspondence from readers relating to articles published in the Journal. Responses should be sent electronically via the BJS website (http://www.bjs.co.uk). All letters will be reviewed and, if approved, appear on the website. A selection of these will be edited and published in the Journal. Letters must ...

The Editors welcome topical correspondence from readers relating to articles published in the Journal. Responses should be sent electronically via the BJS website (http://www.bjs.co.uk). All letters will be reviewed and, if approved, appear on the website. A selection of these will be edited and published in the Journal. Letters must ...

Letters to the Editor are welcomed for publication (subject to editing). Letters must be signed by all authors, and must not exceed two pages of text including references. Letters should not duplicate material submitted or published in other journals. Prepublication proofs will not be provided.

The Editors welcome topical correspondence from readers relating to articles published in the Journal. Responses should be sent electronically via the BJS website (http://www.bjs.co.uk). All letters will be reviewed and, if approved, appear on the website. A selection of these will be edited and published in the Journal. Letters must ...

The Editors welcome topical correspondence from readers relating to articles published in the Journal. Responses should be sent electronically via the BJS website (www.bjs.co.uk). All letters will be reviewed and, if approved, appear on the website. A selection of these will be edited and published in the Journal. Letters must ...

As the new Chair of the General Dental Council (GDC), Kevin O'Brien explains to the British Dental Journal how, over the next few years, the organisation will be moved forwards.

Summary  To examine possible associations between self-reported bruxism, stress, desirability of control, dental anxiety and gagging. Five questionnaires were distributed among a general adult population (402 respondents): the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Desirability of Control Scale (DC), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS), Gagging Assessment Scale (GAS), and Bruxism Assessment Questionnaire. A ...

To investigate whether the relationship between dental anxiety and referral for treatment under sedation is explained by attendance patterns and oral health. Structural Equation Modeling was used on the covariance matrix of the covariates to test hypothesized inter-relationships. Subsequently, we modeled the probability of referral for treatment under sedation with ...

To compare the prevalence of high dental anxiety across a variety of past distressing experiences with a previously reported Dutch sample. University students from the UK (N=1024) completed an online survey containing; the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, and the Level of Exposure-Dental Experiences Questionnaire (LOE-DEQ). Adjusted odds ratios (OR) were ...

To review the literature, of the past 30 years, on the effects of dental staff behaviour on the anxiety and behaviour of child dental patients; especially to determine staff behaviours that reduce anxiety and encourage cooperation of children. A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed, Web of Science, The ...

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the role of dental fear (DF) and other personal characteristics in relation to dental behaviour management problems (DBMP). DESIGN: A study group of 230 patients (7.5-19 years old; 118 girls), referred because of DBMP, was compared to a reference group of 248 same-aged patients ...

Questionnaires that focus on the fear of dental treatment typically include a narrow list of previous treatment-related factors. By omitting items concerned with psychologic, emotional, and interpersonal traits that impact treatment, practitioners often fail to gain additional valuable information on related anxiety issues. This study was undertaken to identify previously ...

While dental anxiety is often correlated with prior negative dental experience, prevention of dental anxiety should in theory include early exposure to the dental setting. We set out to evaluate factors affecting dental fear in French children. Dental fear was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (DF-VAS) in a group ...

Traumatic dental experiences are associated with dental anxiety and fear. However, many people with no dental fear have had negative dental experiences, and some people with considerable fear fail to recall any traumatic incidents. This study aimed to determine whether dental fear was better explained by experiences or by cognitive ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a measure of childhood information learning experiences related to dental anxiety according to Rachmnan's theory of fear acquisition entitled "Dental Information Learning History Questionnaire (DILHQ)" and to determine its test quality with regard to factorial validity, reliability, divergent, discriminant, and predictive ...

The measurement of dental fear is important due to its high prevalence and appreciable individual, clinical, and public health consequences. However, existing measures of dental anxiety and fear (DAF) have theoretical or practical limitations. This study describes the development and subsequent assessment of the reliability and validity of test scores ...

The aims of this study were to evaluate possible relationships between trait anxiety, dental anxiety and the total number of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index of patients attending a dental school clinic. A sample of 558 patients was surveyed with the Turkish version of the Spielberger Trait Anxiety ...

The anxiety experienced by some patients before or during dental visits poses a problem for patients and the dental practitioners alike. Some people consider them a stressful experience which manifests itself as anxiety, fear and even phobia and results in avoidance of proper dental care. The dental anxiety, dental fear ...

BACKGROUND: The relationship between parental and child dental fear has been studied for over a century. During this time, the concept of dental fear as well as methodological approaches to studying dental fear in children have evolved considerably. AIM: To provide an overview of the published empirical evidence on the ...

BACKGROUND: Anxiety related to dental treatment is a common phenomenon that has a significant impact on the provision of appropriate dental care. The aim of this case series was to examine the effect of acupuncture given prior to dental treatment on the level of anxiety. METHODS: Eight dentists submitted 21 ...

Little is known about the anxiety patients experience before attending for dental treatment. The aim of this study was to determine, in dentally phobic patients, the temporal relationship of pre-operative anxiety levels, and the disruption to daily life caused by this. Twenty-four phobic and 19 comparison (non-phobic) dental patients were ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dental anxiety and dental decay experience among antenatal mothers attending Maternal and Child Health clinics in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a consecutive sample of 407 antenatal mothers in Seremban, Malaysia. The questionnaire consisted of participants' demographic ...

An accurate yet quick method to identify those with dental anxiety in general practice.

The objective was to test a hypothesized genetic component (i.e., monozygotic being more similar compared with dizygotic twins) in dental fear/anxiety by comparing the probandwise concordance. We analyzed data based on a dichotomous measure of Dental Fear/Anxiety and a continuous measure of Dental Fear Intensity from over 2000 twins, collected ...

Gustafsson A, Arnrup K, Broberg AG, Bodin L, Berggren U. Child dental fear as measured with the Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule: the impact of referral status and type of informant (child versus parent). Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010. (c) 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S Abstract ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the shorter form of the gagging problem assessment questionnaire. Forty-three patients with gagging problems and 89 patients who showed no signs of gagging during dental examination were included in the study. The patients ...

The primary aim of this thesis was to study dental fear, personal characteristics and psychosocial concomitants in relation to dental behaviour management problems (DBMP) and dental attendance. The study sample consisted of children (8-12 yrs) and adolescents (13-19 yrs) referred to the Specialized Paediatric Dental Clinic because of DBMP. They ...

Extensive research and clinical experience have demonstrated the usefulness of sedation in helping fearful patients receive dental treatment, particularly when they have urgent treatment needs. In addition, the efficacy of behavioural programmes for managing dental fears is well established. While often these two approaches are seen as oppositional, our work ...

PURPOSE: The objective of the present study was to assess dental anxiety and study its relationship with the perceived Health Locus of Control (HLC) among students in an Indian dental school. METHODS: A total of 325 students returned completed history forms that consisted of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control ...

Dental anxiety shares similar characteristics with many clinical anxiety disorders, and this is especially the case with other specific fears and phobias. These often debilitating conditions comprise several different dimensions, including cognitive, emotional, behavioural and physiological components. In addition, dental anxiety and fear are associated with a range of aversive ...

Halitosis represents a common dental condition, although sufferers are often not conscious of it. The aim of this study was to examine behavior in a sample of Italian subjects with reference to self-reported halitosis and emotional state, and specifically the presence of dental anxiety. The study was performed on Italian ...

The objective of this study was to examine the public health relevance of the prevalence of dental fear in Kuwait and the resultant barrier that it creates regarding access to dental care. The study analysis demonstrated a high prevalence of dental fear and anxiety in the Kuwaiti population and a ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate trait and dental anxiety influence on postoperative recovery after lower third molar surgery and to determine the effect of anxiety on surgery duration. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study was performed of 145 patients who underwent lower third molar extractions. Dental anxiety ...

Pain, and anxiety of pain, for some people are serious problems in dental treatment. It is a common practical experience that even entering a dental surgery office, or the sound of a dental drill, may evoke vegetative correlates of toothache without any underlying disease. This everyday phenomenon suggests the hypothesis ...

OBJECTIVES: To review the effect of lavender scent on anticipatory anxiety in dental participants. METHODS: In a cluster randomized-controlled trial, patients' (N = 340) anxiety was assessed while waiting for a scheduled dental appointment, either under the odor of lavender or with no odor. Current anxiety, assessed by the brief ...

The aim of this study is to create a Turkish version of the Revised Dental Beliefs Survey (DBS-R) and describe its psychometric properties. The participants were 420 general dental patients. The results of the exploratory factor analysis revealed that the DBS-R consisted of three factors consisting of 22 items. Confirmatory ...

AIM: This study sought to explore whether viewing a leaflet explaining the benefits of dental treatment would have a significant impact on children's anticipatory anxiety. METHOD: Fifty children aged 8-12, attending the paediatric dental clinic of King's College Hospital, London, took part in this triple-masked, randomized control study. The participants ...

OBJECTIVES: The Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) is extensively used to assess the level of child dental anxiety. The present study aimed to explore the higher-order factor structure of the parental Chinese version of the CFSS-DS with a large sample of young children in Taiwan. DESIGN: ...

AIM: The aim of this work is to study fears and anxieties of school age Italian children regarding dental experience. In particular, to assess the prevalence of this phenomenon and understand its possible correlation with five different variables: sex, age, social context, previous dental experiences, and self-consciousness of fear. MATERIALS ...

BACKGROUND: The project aims were to evaluate the benefit of transmucosal midazolam 0.2 mg/kg pre-medication on anxiety, induction behaviour and psychological morbidity in children undergoing general anaesthesia (GA) extractions. METHOD: One hundred and seventy-nine children aged 5-10 years (mean 6.53 years) participated in this randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ninety ...

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate whether recent changes in the National Health Service (NHS) dental contract may have caused increased anxiety and concern among vocational dental practitioners (VDPs). METHOD: A total of 606 questionnaires, which had previously been piloted, were distributed to VDPs across England and ...

BACKGROUND: Red hair color is caused by variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene. People with naturally red hair are resistant to subcutaneous local anesthetics and, therefore, may experience increased anxiety regarding dental care. The authors tested the hypothesis that having natural red hair color, a MC1R gene variant or ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine predictors of dental anxiety trajectories in a longitudinal study of New Zealanders. METHODS: Prospective study of a complete birth cohort born in 1972/73 in Dunedin, New Zealand, with dental anxiety scale (DAS) scores and dental utilization determined at ages 15, 18, 26 and 32 years. Personality traits ...

We aimed to study the association between subjective oral impacts and dental fear adjusted for age, gender, level of education, and dental attendance, and to evaluate whether this association was modified by the number of remaining teeth. Nationally representative data on Finnish adults, 30+ yr of age (n = 5,987), ...

We investigated the effect of dental anxiety and dental visiting habits, as well as various socio-demographic variables, on oral health-related quality of life (OHQoL) among subjects aged 15-54 years living in Udaipur district, India. The total sample size was 1235 individuals and a stratified cluster sampling procedure was employed to ...

Child sexual abuse (CSA) occurs in all communities, ethnic backgrounds, religions, cultures, social and economic classes, and is experienced by both males and females. The physical and psychological effects of CSA have significant effects on adult health outcomes. Parallels have been drawn between the physical and emotional environment of dental ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to study the relationship between anxiety and pain felt during a dental injection in a sample of 'normal' patients about to undergo 'invasive' dental treatment. METHODS: Duration and intensity of pain during a dental injection were measured within a sample of 247 patients. ...

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the subjective ratings of dental anxiety levels among university students enrolled at Jordan University of Science and Technology. In addition, the present study aimed to explore the sources of dental anxiety and the impact of gender on the perceived dental anxiety and the ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate anxiety and pain related to dental treatment in children under the age of five years. This cross sectional study was carried out with 2,735 children of both sexes. Socioeconomic data, dental anxiety and dental pain experience, as well as the assessment of ...

The purpose of the present study was to estimate the point prevalence of dental fear and dental phobia relative to 10 other common fears and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV-TR subtypes of specific phobia. Data were also analysed to examine differences with regard to severity, presence of ...