Assessment of dental service utilization and its relationship with dental anxiety among medical and dental students of bayero University Kano, Nigeria

Introduction: Dental anxiety (DA) is an adverse psychological reaction to stress that is specific to dental situations. It is a global public health concern affecting people of all ages and from all geographical locations and impacting their oral health and quality of life. It remains a matter of concern for dental practitioners and patients since it often results in inadequate oral health through complete avoidance of dental treatment, irregular dental attendance, or poor cooperation. DA is considered to be complex and multifactorial with a wide range of provoking factors, which may be patient-, provider-, or environment-related. The number of visits to health facilities per year can measure dental health service (DHS) utilization. The number of dental clinic visits in a year is used as a standard measure to analyze DHS utilization. Aim: This study aimed to assess the relationship between DA and Dental Service Utilization (DSU) among medical and dental students of Bayero University, Kano. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano. The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and the World Health Organization recommended questions on dental services utilization as contained in the combined oral health and treatment assessment form were administered concurrently. Results and Discussion: This study enrolled 169 clinical students, MBBS (75.1% n = 127) and BDS (24.9% n = 42), with an age range of 21–25 years, amongst which nearly two-thirds (63.9% n = 108) were males. DSU, within the past 12 months, revealed that most of the respondents (61.54% n = 104) had not visited a dentist, while only (38.46% n = 65) had visited a dentist. The most common reason for not visiting the dentist was “nothing was wrong to necessitate a visit” (47.3% n = 80). Assessment of DA and its relationship with DSU revealed that of all the anxiety-provoking questions, only scaling and polishing were found to be statistically significant ( P = 0.044). Conclusion: The studied groups’ DSU was poor. Significant barriers, such as financial constraints, busy schedules, and fear of dental treatment, contributed to this. Scaling and polishing were the only statistically significant triggers of DA among the respondents.