Effect of Dental Education on Dental Phobia; A Cross-Sectional Study among the Dental Students of Riyadh, KSA

Introduction: Dental anxiety among dental students is an important issue that needs to be examined more thoroughly by the research community. Dental anxiety among dental students could have implications for their future practice, as it may adversely affect their ability to render quality dental care. Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted among the dental students in Riyadh using an online survey. Dental universities in Riyadh were contacted and participants were requested to fill up the survey. 500 students from all six years of dentistry were utilized in this study. Results: overall 21.6% of clinical students reported that dental education did not reduce their dental phobia at all, whereas 40.4% reported definitely yes. Among various dental procedures that may cause anxiety among patients, root canal treatment (RCT) was accounted for the greatest number of responses (28.6%) in 'high anxiety'. Conclusion: There is a need to intervene and use certain measures to reduce the dental phobia or anxiety among pre-clinical dental students and not wait until they reach clinical levels.