Dental fear and subjective oral impacts among adults in Finland

We aimed to study the association between subjective oral impacts and dental fear adjusted for age, gender, level of education, and dental attendance, and to evaluate whether this association was modified by the number of remaining teeth. Nationally representative data on Finnish adults, 30+ yr of age (n = 5,987), were gathered through interviews, clinical examination, and questionnaires. Dental fear was measured using the question: 'How afraid are you of visiting a dentist?' and subjective oral impacts were measured using the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire. The outcome variables were the percentage of people reporting one or more OHIP-14 items fairly often or very often, and the 'extent' and 'severity'. Those with high dental fear reported higher levels of prevalence, 'extent', and 'severity' of subjective oral impacts than did those with low dental fear or no fear. The association between dental fear and subjective oral impacts was not significantly modified by the number of remaining teeth. The greatest differences between those with high dental fear and low dental fear were found in psychological, social, and handicap dimensions, but not in functional or physical dimensions of the OHIP-14. Treating dental fear could have positive effects on subjective oral impacts by reducing psychological and social stress and by improving regular dental attendance and oral health.