The Relationship between the Perceptions of Risk in Dental Care and the Dental Fear Index during COVID-19

Objectives: This study examined the degree of fear of contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among dental patients and the factors that affect their decision-making. Methods: A survey was conducted on patients from one dental clinic and one general hospital in City B. Results: Statistically significant differences in the dental fear index were observed in all items before and during COVID-19. Among the psychological factors that influenced the dental fear index, ‘afraid of getting COVID-19 infection’ and ‘afraid because don't have accurate dental information were statistically significant’ (p<0.001 and p<0.01, respectively). Conclusions: Our results confirmed that patients who visited the dentist during COVID-19 demonstrated greater fear, with increased scores in all items of the dental fear index, compared to before COVID-19.