Recalling the threat: Dental anxiety in patients waiting for dental surgery

Objective: The tendency of patients with high levels of anxiety to easily recall threatening stimuli has not been examined in relation to dental anxiety. The current study was aimed to examine the effect of pre-treatment anxiety levels and of information given prior to dentistry surgical procedures on free recall of threatening words. Methods: Forty-two subjects attending a private dental clinic were recruited. While awaiting root-canal treatment or tooth extraction, patients were asked to proofread a list of 32 words, which contained mental and physical threat-related words, as well as positive and neutral words. Only half of the subjects received information on the forthcoming surgical procedure. Pre-treatment anxiety levels using the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and word recall were evaluated. Results: Only subjects with high dental anxiety (above median score) recalled more mental and physical threatrelated words, than positive words. Moreover, the dental anxiety score as a continuous variable predicted the mean number of mental threat-related words recalled. No significant differences were noted between those who did or did not receive information prior to the surgical procedures, on the recall of the four types of words. Conclusions: Similar to other anxiety disorders, patients with dental anxiety display a tendency for free recall of threatening stimuli presented to them before a threatening event. Preliminary information given prior to dentistry surgical procedures does not decrease anxiety. Suggestions for intervention in the dentist's clinic are given.