Dental fear and perceived oral health importance: A mediation analysis of courage as virtue

TL;DR

This study explores how dental fear affects perceived oral health importance and finds that courage as a virtue can help improve this perception.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel mediation analysis linking dental fear, courage as a virtue, and perceived oral health importance.

Findings

Dental fear domains like physiological arousal and avoidance negatively impact perceived oral health importance.

Courage domains such as perseverance and bravery mediate the relationship between dental fear and perceived importance.

Promoting courage as a virtue could enhance perceived oral health importance among patients.

Abstract

The impact of dental fear on the perceived importance of oral health is of interest to dentists. Hence, 100 participants with
clinical diagnoses of dental caries and periodontal/gingival diseases were assessed. The dental fear survey comprised 20 items in the
questionnaire addressing the different situations, associated feelings and reactions related to dental treatment. Perceived importance
of oral health was recorded through 3 items of oral health belief questionnaire. Character strengths of courage were recorded through
the Values in Action Inventory of Strength (VIA-IS) Questionnaire (40 items; 10 items belonging to each of the four character strengths
of courage). Later, a mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the direct effect of dental fear and its domains, as well as the
mediating effect of courage and its domains (perseverance, honesty, zest, bravery) on perceived importance. The 'physiological arousal'
and 'avoidance of dentistry' factors associated with dental fear negatively impact the perceived importance of oral health. Thus, virtue
of courage has the potential to improve the perceived importance of oral health.