Awareness on Smoking and Alcohol Use and Its Association With Increased Levels of Dental Fear and Anxiety - A Survey Among Dental College Students

Abstract

Lifestyle modifications, work pressure, stress may lead to adverse habits like smoking, drinking and tobacco chewing. These habits may lead to poor oral health. Not only poor oral health may also lead to dental fear and dental anxiety. Self-administered questionnaires were designed based on knowledge, attitude and practice. The questionnaire was distributed through an online platform. The study population included people belonging to the age group of 18-24 age groups. The participants were explained about the purpose of the study in detail. The questions were carefully studied and the participants marked the corresponding answers. The data were collected and statistically analysed using SPSS software. Results were collected as an ordinal data and reported that smoking and alcohol causes increased dental fear which leads to poor oral health and some anxiety management techniques should be employed by dental practitioners to make the procedures in a simple way. For a satisfactory dental treatment and good oral health status, the state of mind of the patient is very important and it is influenced by many factors, including smoking and alcohol use. The aim of the study is to evaluate whether students are aware that the increased level of dental fear and anxiety is associated with smoking and alcohol use.