Clinical implications of panic symptoms in dental phobia

Carrie M Potter; Dina G Kinner; Marisol Tellez; Amid I Ismail; Richard G Heimberg

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.07.013

Clinical implications of panic symptoms in dental phobia

J Anxiety Disord. 2014 Oct;28(7):724-30. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.07.013. Epub 2014 Aug 12.

Authors

Carrie M Potter¹, Dina G Kinner², Marisol Tellez³, Amid I Ismail⁴, Richard G Heimberg⁵

Affiliations

¹ Adult Anxiety Clinic, Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13 Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Electronic address: carrie.potter@temple.edu.
² Adult Anxiety Clinic, Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13 Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Electronic address: dina.kinner@temple.edu.
³ Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health Sciences, Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University, 3223 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. Electronic address: Marisol@dental.temple.edu.
⁴ Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University, 3223 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. Electronic address: ismailai@dental.temple.edu.
⁵ Adult Anxiety Clinic, Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13 Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA. Electronic address: heimberg@temple.edu.

PMID: 25173979
DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.07.013

Abstract

The occurrence of panic symptoms in various anxiety disorders has been associated with more severely impaired and difficult-to-treat cases, but this has not been investigated in dental phobia. We examined the clinical implications of panic symptoms related to sub-clinical and clinically significant dental phobia. The sample consisted of 61 patients at a university dental clinic who endorsed symptoms of dental phobia, 25 of whom met criteria for a formal diagnosis of dental phobia. Participants with dental phobia endorsed more panic symptoms than did those with sub-clinical dental phobia. In the total sample, greater endorsement of panic symptoms was associated with higher dental anxiety, more avoidance of dental procedures, and poorer oral health-related quality of life. Among those with dental phobia, certain panic symptoms exhibited associations with specific anxiety-eliciting dental procedures. Panic symptoms may serve as indicators of clinically significant dental phobia and the need for augmented treatment.

Keywords: Dental anxiety; Dental phobia; Oral health-related quality of life; Panic; Specific phobia.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Anxiety / psychology
Dental Anxiety / psychology*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Oral Health
Panic*
Quality of Life
Young Adult