ABSTRACT

【Abstract】 Objective To explore the risk factors of dental phobia in patients with chronic pulpitis and construct a risk prediction model.
Methods A retrospective selection was made of 100 patients with chronic pulpitis admitted to our hospital from March 2022 to March 2025. They were evaluated and grouped using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS). A score of MDAS≥19 indicated the presence of dental phobia. The patients were divided into the phobia group (28 cases) and the non-phobia group (72 cases).Collect patients' clinical data, including age, body mass index (BMI), gender, education level, place of residence, position of the tooth being treated, previous dental treatment history, spontaneous pain symptoms, pain tolerance, and anxiety symptoms.
Results Univariate analysis showed that compared with the non-phobia group, the phobia group had a higher proportion of previous dental treatment history, spontaneous pain symptoms, good pain tolerance, and positive anxiety symptoms (P < 0.05).There were no significant differences in data such as age, BMI, gender, educational level, place of residence, and treated tooth position between the two groups (P > 0.05).Multivariate Logistic analysis showed that for patients with chronic pulpitis, previous dental treatment history, spontaneous pain symptoms, pain tolerance, and anxiety symptoms were independent risk factors for dental phobia (P < 0.05).ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of the risk prediction model was 0.856, the standard error was 0.026, the 95%CI was (0.805-0.907), the sensitivity was 82.14%, the specificity was 87.50%, and the Youden index was 0.696.
Conclusion   The occurrence of dental phobia in patients with chronic pulpitis is related to factors such as previous dental treatment history, spontaneous pain symptoms, pain tolerance, and anxiety symptoms. The risk prediction model constructed based on the above risk factors has a good predictive value for the occurrence of dental phobia.

Key words: 【Key words】 Chronic pulpitis; Dental phobia; Risk factors; Predictive model