Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia
Purpose/objectives: Dental anxiety is a common type of fear that can complicate dental treatment. The dental practitioner is crucial in both treating dental fear and anxiety as well as prevent it from arising. The ability to feel empathy is important in that matter. The dental practitioner’s own le...
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Medical Journals Sweden
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Acta Odontologica Scandinavica |
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| Online Access: | https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/43424 |
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| author | Faheema Kimmie-Dhansay Ann Catrin Høyvik Ahmed Bhayat Faezah Hussain Arannikah Karunakaran Besime Kaya Pagollang Motloba Cathrine Malau John Rutabanzibwa Shenuka Singh Vivienne Wilson Ingvild Johnsen Brusevold |
| author_facet | Faheema Kimmie-Dhansay Ann Catrin Høyvik Ahmed Bhayat Faezah Hussain Arannikah Karunakaran Besime Kaya Pagollang Motloba Cathrine Malau John Rutabanzibwa Shenuka Singh Vivienne Wilson Ingvild Johnsen Brusevold |
| author_sort | Faheema Kimmie-Dhansay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Purpose/objectives: Dental anxiety is a common type of fear that can complicate dental treatment. The dental practitioner is crucial in both treating dental fear and anxiety as well as prevent it from arising. The ability to feel empathy is important in that matter. The dental practitioner’s own level of dental anxiety can possibly affect his or her ability to treat patients in an empathetic manner. The aim of this study was to assess and examine the relationship between level of empathy and dental anxiety in undergraduate oral healthcare students from Namibia, South Africa and Norway.
Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed. Questionnaires were distributed, and responses were analyzed anonymously. Dental anxiety was assessed using Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), and empathy level was assessed using Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Data were presented as means or medians and analyzed using a linear regression model in STATA with a 5% level of significance.
Results: The response rate was 16.0%, and 298 completed questionnaires were received. MDAS was low in all groups (medians 7–10), however, significantly lower in Norway compared to Namibia and South Africa. The mean TEQ score was 46.8 in Namibia, 47.5 in South Africa and 50.4 in Norway, all above average empathy levels but significantly higher in Norway than in Namibia and South Africa.
Conclusions: Oral healthcare students in Africa and Norway showed high empathy and low dental anxiety, which is reassuring for future oral health care professionals.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-90cfd01d388a4359bdcb35e7f73c133d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0001-6357 1502-3850 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Medical Journals Sweden |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Odontologica Scandinavica |
| spelling | doaj-art-90cfd01d388a4359bdcb35e7f73c133d2025-08-20T03:17:31ZengMedical Journals SwedenActa Odontologica Scandinavica0001-63571502-38502025-04-018410.2340/aos.v84.43424Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and NamibiaFaheema Kimmie-Dhansay0Ann Catrin Høyvik1Ahmed Bhayat2Faezah Hussain3Arannikah Karunakaran4Besime Kaya5Pagollang Motloba6Cathrine Malau7John Rutabanzibwa8Shenuka Singh9Vivienne Wilson10Ingvild Johnsen Brusevold11Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South AfricaDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Behavioral Science and Forensic Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South AfricaDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Behavioral Science and Forensic Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Behavioral Science and Forensic Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Behavioral Science and Forensic Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Community Dentistry, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Ga-Rankuwa, South AfricaDepartment of Community Dentistry, School of Oral Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Community Dentistry and Orthodontics, Windhoek, NamibiaSchool of Health Sciences, Discipline of Dentistry, University of the KwazZulu Natal, Durban, South AfricaDepartment of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South AfricaDepartment of Pediatric Dentistry, Behavioral Science and Forensic Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Purpose/objectives: Dental anxiety is a common type of fear that can complicate dental treatment. The dental practitioner is crucial in both treating dental fear and anxiety as well as prevent it from arising. The ability to feel empathy is important in that matter. The dental practitioner’s own level of dental anxiety can possibly affect his or her ability to treat patients in an empathetic manner. The aim of this study was to assess and examine the relationship between level of empathy and dental anxiety in undergraduate oral healthcare students from Namibia, South Africa and Norway. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed. Questionnaires were distributed, and responses were analyzed anonymously. Dental anxiety was assessed using Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), and empathy level was assessed using Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). Data were presented as means or medians and analyzed using a linear regression model in STATA with a 5% level of significance. Results: The response rate was 16.0%, and 298 completed questionnaires were received. MDAS was low in all groups (medians 7–10), however, significantly lower in Norway compared to Namibia and South Africa. The mean TEQ score was 46.8 in Namibia, 47.5 in South Africa and 50.4 in Norway, all above average empathy levels but significantly higher in Norway than in Namibia and South Africa. Conclusions: Oral healthcare students in Africa and Norway showed high empathy and low dental anxiety, which is reassuring for future oral health care professionals. https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/43424empathydental anxietyoral health students |
| spellingShingle | Faheema Kimmie-Dhansay Ann Catrin Høyvik Ahmed Bhayat Faezah Hussain Arannikah Karunakaran Besime Kaya Pagollang Motloba Cathrine Malau John Rutabanzibwa Shenuka Singh Vivienne Wilson Ingvild Johnsen Brusevold Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia Acta Odontologica Scandinavica empathy dental anxiety oral health students |
| title | Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia |
| title_full | Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia |
| title_fullStr | Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia |
| title_short | Dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in Norway, South Africa and Namibia |
| title_sort | dental anxiety and empathy among undergraduate oral health students in norway south africa and namibia |
| topic | empathy dental anxiety oral health students |
| url | https://medicaljournalssweden.se/actaodontologica/article/view/43424 |
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