Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2026

Publisher

American Dental Education Association

Source Publication

Journal of Dental Education

Source ISSN

0022-0337

Abstract

Objectives: Dental students experience anxiety when treating patients. This study investigated junior and senior dental students’anxiety levels and the associated factors when managing pediatric patients.Methods: Students were invited to complete an online questionnaire with 27 questions. Levels of anxiety were collected basedon a Likert scale (not anxious = 0, slightly anxious = 1, fairly anxious = 2, and very anxious = 4). Multivariable proportional oddsregression was used to evaluate associations and Wilcoxon’s rank sum test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisonswas used to compare anxiety levels between senior and junior students.Results: A total of 123 students, 54 seniors, and 73 females participated in the study. Students reporting being fairly or very anxiousranged from 3% for performing an oral examination on a child aged 10–12 years old to 69% for placing a rubber dam on a child 3–5years old. For all procedures, students were most anxious when treating children aged 3–5 years old, with adjusted odds ratio forbeing more anxious of 3.4 (95% CI 2.8–4.2, p < 0.0001) and 14 (95% CI: 11–20, p < 0.0001) compared to children aged 6–9 and 10–12years, respectively. In the adjusted analysis, juniors had 1.9-fold higher odds of reporting more anxiety compared to seniors (95%CI 1.1–3.3, p = 0.019).Conclusions: Students reported substantial levels of anxiety when treating children aged 3–5 years old. Junior students reportedhigher levels of anxiety when providing restorative procedures and extraction for 10- to 12-year-olds.

Comments

Accepted version. Journal of Dental Education (2026): 1-13. DOI. © 2026 American Dental Education Association. Used with permission.

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