A study on the prevalence of dental anxiety, pain perception, and their interrelationship in Chinese patients with oral implant surgery

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence has revealed that dental anxiety (DA) is associated with pain and patient satisfaction related to dental procedures. However, relevant reports are limited and inconsistent in oral implant patients. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety, pain perception, and analyze their interrelationship in Chinese patients with oral implant surgery. Materials and Methods A cross‐sectional study was performed according to the strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) guideline. Consecutive patients who received oral implant surgeries during February‐March of 2018 in Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital were recruited. The modified dental anxiety scale and visual analog scale were used to evaluate the level of the patient's DA and pain perception. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to analyze the influence of DA on pain perception of patients during oral implant surgery. Results The prevalences of moderate and high preoperative DA were 66.6% and 11.9% in Chinese patients with oral implant surgery, respectively. Seven points eight percent of patients experienced pain perception during surgery. The result of multiple logistic regression showed that there was no significant influence of moderate preoperative DA (OR = 2.0, 95%CI: 0.5‐8.2) on pain perception. However, a significant influence of high preoperative DA (OR = 6.4, 95%CI: 1.3‐30.8) was found on pain perception of patients with oral implant surgery. Significant influences of moderate perioperative DA (OR = 5.0, 95%CI: 1.1‐22.9) and high perioperative DA (OR = 8.7, 95%CI: 1.1‐69.9) were also found on pain perception of patients during oral implant surgery. Conclusions The results of the study indicated that DA was very common in Chinese patients with oral implant surgery. DA may increase pain perception of patients during oral implant surgery.