Dental anxiety and DMFS status: association within a US naval population versus differences between groups

Measurement of dental treatment anxiety and oral health, in a sample of naval recruits, confirmed the generally held expectation that a high anxiety group would have significantly greater numbers of diseased surfaces (DS) than a low anxiety group. However, it was also shown that dental anxiety was not a predictor of DS within the ungrouped sample. In evaluating the public health impact of dental treatment anxiety on oral health, attention must be paid to the context of data collection and analysis. Evidence bearing on group differences does not necessarily describe the situation within a population.