Generally, the elderly are more dentally anxious than younger folks: A short report from a clinical study in Nigeria

Dental anxiety can be defined as abnormal fear or dread of visiting the dentist for preventive care or therapy and unwarranted anxiety over dental procedures. In northern Nigeria, very little or no literature exists on dental anxiety among dental patients. This study aims to explore age-dental anxiety relationships among adult patients presenting at the Department of Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery, Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria. Methods: This study was a clinic-based survey of 172 adult dental patients. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20 Software. Results: The majority of the participants were males (57.6%), Moslems (73.8%), and Hausas (66.9%). More than sixth-tenth (65.1%) of them were within the age range of 16 to 35 years. Those participants in their 7^th decade of life or higher had the highest proportion of those with extreme dental anxiety levels, when compared with the younger age groups, when it comes to visiting a dentist for dental treatment, waiting for treatment at the waiting room, getting their tooth/teeth drilled/scaled and polished, and having a local anesthetic injection in the gum. Conclusion: Our study shows that dental anxiety is more pronounced amongst the elderly, when compared with the younger folks.