Association between dental fear and dental attendance among adults in Finland

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the association between dental attendance and dental fear while considering the simultaneous effects of perceived oral health and treatment need, satisfaction with oral health services, age, gender, marital status, and attained level of education. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The two-stage stratified cluster sample (n=8028) represented Finnish adults aged 30 years and older. The response rate to this nationwide sample was 88%. Dental fear was measured with the question: "How afraid are you of visiting a dentist?" Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association between dental fear and dental attendance, including the following independent variables: perceived oral health, perceived treatment need, satisfaction with oral health services, age, gender, marital status, and attained level of education. RESULTS: Among all ages, except 30 to 34-year-olds, irregular attenders were more likely to be very afraid of visiting a dentist than regular attenders were. The association was stronger the older the age group. Only age modified the association between dental fear and attendance. Irregular dental attendance can be attributed to high dental fear (etiologic fraction among exposed) in 41% of cases. CONCLUSION: Reducing dental fear would increase the number of regular attenders, especially among older age groups. Individuals for whom oral health services have been provided regularly since childhood seem to continue to use these services regularly despite high dental fear.