ArticleBMC oral health2021
Association between dental fear and eating disorders and Body Mass Index among Finnish university students: a national survey.
Article in BMC oral health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The use and misuse of the SCOFF screening measure over two decades: a systematic literature review.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2024Pooled it
- The prevalence and risk factors of screen-based disordered eating among university students: a global systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2022Pooled it
- Dental Anxiety as a Potential Bottleneck in Oral-Systemic Health Pathways: A Conceptual Mapping Review of Review Articles.Dentistry journal · 2026Review
- The mouth, a site of control and pain: a patient-centered qualitative study on oral health experiences in anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2025Article
- Self-Perceived Oral Health Related to Eating Disorders-A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.International journal of dental hygiene · 2025Article
- The relationship between Body Mass Index and dental anxiety among pediatric patients in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Autonomic Nervous System Activity and Dental Anxiety in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1966) Population.Dentistry journal · 2024Article
- Eating disorders and oral health: a scoping review.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundLittle is known about the association between eating disorders (ED) and dental fear. This study investigated the association between dental fear and EDs through body mass index (BMI), and SCOFF (sick, control, one stone, fat, food) questionnaire among Finnish university students. We hypothesised that dental fear is associated with EDs and BMI.
methodsWe used the latest data from the Finnish University Student Health Survey 2016. This survey targeted undergraduate Finnish students (n = 10,000) of academic universities and universities of applied sciences. We enquired about e.g. age, gender, height, weight, educational sector and perceived mental well-being. We used the SCOFF questionnaire to assess those at risk for developing EDs. The question 'Do you feel scared about dental care?' enquired about dental fear. We used the chi-square test and gender-specific logistic regression to analyse the associations between dental fear, EDs and BMI controlling for age, educational sector and mental well-being.
resultsIn total, 3110 students participated in the study. Overall 7.2% of the students reported high dental fear and 9.2% scored SCOFF positive; more women than men reported high dental fear (11.2% vs. 3.8%, p < 0.001) and scored positive on SCOFF (14.2% vs. 3.6%, p < 0.001). Gender modified the association between dental fear and EDs and BMI. Among females, when controlling for educational sector and BMI, those with positive SCOFF score were more likely to have high dental fear than those with negative SCOFF score (OR = 1.6; CI = 1.0-2.4). After adding perceived mental well-being to the gender-specific regression analyses, overweight and obese males, BMI ≥ 25 (OR = 2.4; CI 1.3-4.4) and females with poor to moderate mental well-being (OR = 2.1; CI 1.4-2.9) were more likely than their counterparts to have high dental fear.
conclusionsAmong the Finnish university students BMI in males and problems of mental well-being in females were positively associated with high dental fear. The results of this study support possible common vulnerability factors that dental fear and other psychological disorders may share.
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