Psychopathology and psychiatric diagnosis in subjects with dental phobia

• Published in: Journal of anxiety disorders Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 19 - 31
• Main Authors: Roy-Byrne, Peter P., Milgrom, Peter, Khoon-Mei, Tay, Weinstein, Philip, Katon, Wayne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Ltd 1994; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Medical sciences; Phobia; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Human; Mood disorder; Phobia; Personality test; Dentist; Anxiety disorder; Mental disorder; Somatic conversion; Care
• ISSN: 0887-6185; 1873-7897
• DOI: 10.1016/0887-6185(94)90020-5

To determine the diagnostic and psychopathologic characteristics of subjects with dental phobia, 73 subjects with dental phobia were systematically assessed using structured clinical interviews and multiple rating scales already validated as measures of dental phobia. Forty percent of the sample had a current Axis I diagnosis other than simple phobia, mostly anxiety (20%) or mood (16%) disorder. This subgroup had more Axis II diagnoses, functional impairment, generalized phobic avoidance, and somatization tendencies, higher harm avoidance scores on the TPQ, and more dental fear. Subgroupings based on the presence of an Axis II diagnosis, a lifetime Axis I diagnosis, multiple phobias, and type of dental fear yielded far fewer differences on the above diagnostic and psychometric measures. It remains to be seen whether using both DSM-III-R diagnoses and already validated dental fear classification schemes will improve treatment planning and outcome for these patients.