Dental anxiety among adolescents in St. Petersburg, Russia

This small-size epidemiologic investigation examined the prevalence and etiology of dental fear and anxiety among 288 schoolchildren aged 13-18 years in St. Petersburg, Russia. The adolescent population was collected from a larger sociological investigation performed in Russia during the early period of reforms. The investigation revealed a comparatively elevated anxiety level with an average DAS score of 10.0 and a prevalence of high dental fear of 12.6%. The present study showed that the origin of dental anxiety as reported by adolescent, urban Russians parallels much of previous results from the US and Western Europe. Thus, the etiology of dental anxiety was related to negative dental experiences and this conditional learning seemed to be especially prevalent in the presence of previous oral pain experiences and an existing dental anxiety in the family.