Sense of fear: A research on patients undergoing dental treatment

Fear has an important role in our lives. Fear is a natural and necessary feeling like sadness,happines and enthusiasm for people. Fear is a kind of reflex we have to show. Dental phobia affects people's health and daily lives negatively. It causes people's to lose their confidence, put off appointments and not to goto dentist. This study is made at a private dental care center in Gaziantep with 198 participants. The purpose is to investigate whether fear level differ according to demographic factors and dental anxiety and fear scale. According to analysis results, fear level differs according to participants age, marital status, whether they put off the appointment or not and with whom they go to dentist. Participants gender differs with cognitive-behavioral extent. There is a positive, weak but meaningful relationship between emotional-physiological extent and cognitive-behavioral extent. Keywords: Fear, Anxiety, Fear Sense, Dental Fear, Dental Anxiety and Fear Scale (IDAF-4C+)