The present proposed study is designed to evaluate the impact of a media-presented dental fear and avoidance reduction program. It represents an important current trend in behavioral medicine/dentistry of employing behavioral principles in educating the public and increasing health via the mass media. The major goal of this study is to demonstrate the therapeutic impact of a one-half hour television-presented dental fear reduction program. Three hundred high-fear dental avoiders and 300 moderate-fear avoiders will be evaluated in the main experimental design. An equal number (50) of these moderate-and high-fear dental avoiders will be randomly assigned to one of six groups according to a 3 x 2 factorial design; television viewing treatment, television viewing placebo, and no television viewing conditions will be crossed with incentive versus no-incentive conditions. Pre- and post-viewing evaluations (before, immediately after, 6-months after, and one-year after) of dental fear, avoidance, and attitudes/reactions to dentistry will be collected for all subjects. It is hypothesized that the televised treatment condition will significantly reduce dental fear and avoidance among the moderate-fear avoiders. Such findings will provide the important groundwork for subsequently validating the educational/therapeutic impact of applying behavioral technology to large populations via the mass media.
| Gatchel, R J (1989) The prevalence of dental fear and avoidance: expanded adult and recent adolescent surveys. J Am Dent Assoc 118:591-3 |
