Differences in the perception of dental sounds: a preliminary study

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of the participants

	FF group (n=13)	MF group (n=11)	FC group (n=26)	MC group (n=19)	p-value*
Age (years)	31.4±11.1	25.6±6.1	28.1±6.9	27.5±8.1	0.35
DFS score	66.9±9.3^a	62.0±8.7^a	35.9±10.7^b	33.5±8.5^b	<0.001
DAS score	11.9±1.6^a	12.4±2.9^a	8.8±2.7^b	8.1±2.9^b	<0.001
STAI-T score	39.2±10.4	39.5±6.6	42.5±12.6	39.2±7.5	0.64
STAI-S score	37.8±7.6	41.0±6.0	38.9±7.5	37.3±8.4	0.60
SDS score	36.5±9.0	38.2±5.1	38.9±8.2	35.4±7.8	0.49

Notes: Data are shown as mean ± SD. *One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post-hoc test. Superscript letters correspond to differences among the four groups within rows. Values with the same superscript letters indicate that the groups were not significantly different, and those with different superscript letters indicate the presence of a significant difference in the group means at the p<0.05 using the post-hoc comparison (Tukey’s honestly significant difference test).

Abbreviations: FF, female dental fear; MF, male dental fear; FC, female control; MC, male control; DFS, Dental Fear Survey; DAS, Dental Anxiety Scale; STAI-T, State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait; STAI-S, STAI-State; SDS, Self-Rating Depression Scale.

Table 2 Subjective ratings of dental and neutral sounds

	FF group (n=13)		MF group (n=11)		FC group (n=26)		MC group (n=19)		p-value*
	Mean (SD)	Med.	Mean (SD)	Med.	Mean (SD)	Med.	Mean (SD)	Med.
Valence
D1	6.3 (9.5)^a	3.0	11.7 (7.7)^ab	10.0	24.1 (19.6)^b	19.5	20.1 (18.6)^ab	15.0	0.007
D2	12.2 (12.3)^a	9.0	24.5 (11.5)^ab	29.0	33.9 (17.8)^b	33.0	34.5 (19.8)^b	36.0	0.002
N	27.0 (17.8)	23.0	36.3 (11.8)	32.0	33.9 (19.1)	28.0	38.1 (18.9)	47.0	0.30
Disgust
D1	89.8 (18.4)^a	95.0	84.0 (21.7)^ab	92.0	64.7 (31.9)^b	74.0	67.7 (28.0)^b	76.0	0.004
D2	68.9 (31.2)	75.0	58.6 (28.2)	68.0	54.0 (32.8)	64.5	56.0 (28.7)	64.0	0.46
N	50.2 (32.2)	61.0	45.7 (22.6)	51.0	42.1 (33.9)	37.0	45.5 (31.1)	45.0	0.94

Notes: *Kruskal-Wallis test. Superscript letters correspond to differences among the four groups within rows. Values with the same superscript letters indicate no significant differences in the group means, and those with different superscript letters indicate significant differences in the group means at p<0.0083 using the post-hoc comparison (Mann-Whitney U-test).

Abbreviations: FF, female dental fear; MF, male dental fear; FC, female control; MC, male control; D1, dental drilling sound; D2, vacuum suction sound; N, pure tone; SD, standard deviation; Med., Median.

Figure 1 Differences in the subjective ratings of the three sounds; *p<0.0167, **p<0.001.

Abbreviations: FF, female dental fear; MF, male dental fear; FC, female control; MC, male control; D1, dental drilling sound; D2, vacuum suction sound; N, pure tone; VAS, visual analog scale.