Pressure pain sensitivity is associated with dental fear in adults in middle age: Findings from the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort study
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Jari Jokelainen; Satu Lahti; Juha Auvinen; Kankaanpää R; Jaro Karppinen; Kari Rantavuori
- Source
- Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.
- Subject
- Adult
Male
Pain Threshold
medicine.medical_specialty
Pain tolerance
Population
Pain
Dental fear
Cohort Studies
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
stomatognathic system
Threshold of pain
Dental Anxiety
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
education
General Dentistry
Finland
education.field_of_study
ta313
business.industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
030206 dentistry
Middle Aged
medicine.disease
Middle age
stomatognathic diseases
Cohort
Physical therapy
Quality of Life
Anxiety
Female
medicine.symptom
business
Cohort study
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 0301-5661
INTRODUCTION Dental fear is a prevalent problem leading to severe deterioration of oral health and health-related quality of life. Despite the knowledge that dental fear is closely linked to painful experience, the association between pain sensitivity and dental fear remains unclear. This study was designed to evaluate this association with validated measures of dental fear and pressure pain sensitivity in a cohort population. METHODS The study population consisted of a subpopulation of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. At the age of 46 years, 1736 participants completed the valid and reliable Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and participated in a clinical examination, where their nonorofacial pressure pain sensitivity was evaluated by validated pressure pain threshold (PPT) and tolerance (PPTo) measurements. Gender-specific Tobit regressions were performed to analyse this association adjusted for smoking and depressive and anxiety symptoms. RESULTS Women with moderate dental fear had 5% (31.3 kPa; P