Evaluation of the Impact of Educational Status on the Anxiety Levels of Patients Undergoing Root Canal Therapy Using Modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale—A Cross-Sectional study

Background and Objective: Majority of dental procedures are invasive in nature. Procedures such as injecting local anesthesia at the site of procedure, raising a soft tissue flap, extraction or root canal therapy (RCT) are considered invasive. These procedures have shown to increase anxiety among patients. Raised levels of anxiety might result in complications and thus can affect the prognosis of treatment. Hence, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of education on the anxiety level among the patients undergoing root canal therapy.

Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study in a hospital setting was planned. A total of 177 subjects who were planned to undergo RCT were included in the study. Around ninety (90) subjects were included in non-educated group, whereas, 87 patients were recruited in educated study group. All subjects were asked to fill the Modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) before they undergo the RCT.

Results: Significantly (P < 0.05) higher number of educated subjects responded “quiet” to the first three questions. Additionally, significantly (P < 0.05) higher number of non-educated subjects displayed “very worried” response to the last two questions of corah’s scale questionnaire. Level of education reported a significant negative correlation with the anxiety level. Among the gender group, a greater number of females displayed significantly (P < 0.05) “worried” response to all questions compared to their male counterparts. On overall anxiety scale, male and educated subjects reported to have significantly (P < 0.001) low level of anxiety in comparison to their counterparts.

Conclusion: The level of education seems to influence the anxiety level, with educated individuals coping better with the anxiety level prior to the RCT.