Association of Fear and Annoyance with Acoustic Levels of Dental Equipment Among Adolescents Attending Rural Dental Health Center: A Cross-sectional Study

Noise is increasingly becoming pervasive in occupational health concerning practicing dentists as well as patients. A stimulus such as noise from dental equipment compared to anxiety is often multifactorial and can result from a combination of fear of pain, dental instruments noise, or even upcoming negative events and future threats.

This study aimed to assess fear and annoyance levels among adolescents attending a rural dental health centre and compare the acoustic noise levels of dental equipment and its association with fear and annoyance levels among adolescents.

The acoustic noise spectra originating from different tools/equipment in a rural dental health centre is assessed using an application named sound meter of a standard mobile android phone (Samsung galaxy grand 2). Following a 15-minute treatment, a questionnaire was filled by a professional investigator through personal interviews with all subjects. The data is subjected to analysis by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0.

61.5% of the subjects felt anxious about the anticipatory dental visit, and there was a significant difference observed between genders. Chi-square analysis revealed no significant differences in the fear and annoyance with increasing noise levels in various treatment groups. (p> 0.05).

In the present study, fear and annoyance levels increased with increasing noise levels of equipment. Annoyance was found to be significantly higher in females.