The influence of a patient-management course to dental hygiene students on the dental anxiety of their patients

This study investigated the effect of teaching dental hygiene students a course in caregiver-patient relationships on their patients' dental anxiety, and patients' feelings toward known anxiety-provoking stimuli. The study group (twenty-five men and twenty-five women) was treated by a class of dental hygiene students following a behavioral course given after the first visit. The control group (twenty-four men, twenty-six women) was treated by another class without the intervention. Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and a twelve-item questionnaire identifying specific anxiety-provoking situations were completed by the patients before initial visit and after the third visit. A significant reduction in DAS within the study group was observed after the intervention. In both groups, women demonstrated higher anxiety. No significant difference was found in the twelve-item questionnaire after intervention in both groups. These findings suggest that a four-hour behavioral course to a class of dental hygiene students was an influencing factor in reducing their patients' levels of dental anxiety.