DOI: 10.36347/sjds.2017.v04i06.008

Pages: 291-296

Dental anxiety is one of the primary causes of avoidance of dental treatment. The adverse effect of such avoidance will be reflected in the oral health and lead to dental caries and periodontal diseases with consequences of early loss of teeth. In Saudi Arabia, there is a high rate of dental caries as well as needs of oral health care. However, factors those contribute in DA remains largely unstudied. One hindered fifty nine students were interviewed using the Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale, Revised (DAS-R) to assess the dental anxiety in the students at the University of Hail at medical field colleges. Data collection was obtained from students of medical field colleges e.g. Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Nurse and applied Sciences College through electronic web-based data entry. DA were present in 49.7 %% of the total sample. Most of the anxiety level is moderate and dental phobia among this student was 5.5 %. Field of the study was associated significantly with the degree of DA. Dental students had a lower level of DA and Pharmacy student experienced highest DA score compared to other colleges. Half of participant experience some level of dental anxiety. Most of the anxiety level are moderate where the stressor should be identified and deal with it. Furthermore, dental health education measures are required for the university students and the general population to address dental anxiety and thus improve patient dental attitudes and compliance.