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Original Research

When the fear of dentist is relevant for more than one’s oral health. A structural equation model of dental fear, self-esteem, oral-health-related well-being, and general well-being

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Pages 1229-1240 | Published online: 25 Jul 2019

Figures & data

Figure 1 Conceptual model of the relationships between the general perceived well-being as the outcome variable and the oral-specific well-being, dental-specific anxiety, and self-esteem, as the predictor variables (the arrows represent the hypothesized directions of influence and the plus/minus sign designates the positive/negative association).

Notes: In our model, the potentially counterintuitive positive association between dental fear and oral-health-related well-being is due to the fact that oral-health well-being was a reverted measure, estimated by the severity of the health conditions, which transformed it into a measure of discomfort. This aspect is made clearer in the final outputs of the structural equation models.
Figure 1 Conceptual model of the relationships between the general perceived well-being as the outcome variable and the oral-specific well-being, dental-specific anxiety, and self-esteem, as the predictor variables (the arrows represent the hypothesized directions of influence and the plus/minus sign designates the positive/negative association).

Table 1 Scales’ items

Table 2 Item loadings

Figure 2 Final pathway model of the relationships between the general perceived well-being as the outcome variable and the oral-specific well-being, dental-specific anxiety, and self-esteem, as the predictor variables (the dotted pathways marked “n.s.” indicate nonsignificant relationships).

Note: The positive association between dental fear and oral-health-related well-being, and the negative association between oral-health-related well-being and self-esteem is due the fact that the oral-health-related well-being was measured via the severity of the oral health conditions, which made it a measure of discomfort.
Abbreviations: SES, self-esteem; DFS, Dental Fear Survey; OHIP, Oral Health Impact Profile; FLS, Flourishing Scale.
Figure 2 Final pathway model of the relationships between the general perceived well-being as the outcome variable and the oral-specific well-being, dental-specific anxiety, and self-esteem, as the predictor variables (the dotted pathways marked “n.s.” indicate nonsignificant relationships).

Table 3 Construct validity and reliability

Table 4 Fit indices for the pathway model