The vicious cycle of dental fear: exploring the interplay between oral health, service utilization and dental fear

Table 2 Socio-demographic and dental characteristics by dental fear

	Not afraid		A little afraid		Quite afraid		Very afraid
	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Dentate status***
Dentate	3,482	90.3	826	96.2	295	99.0	648	95.3
Edentulous	375	9.7	33	3.8	3	1.0	32	4.7
Sex***
Male	2,024	52.4	332	38.6	124	41.6	218	32.1
Female	1,837	47.6	529	61.4	174	58.4	462	67.9
Age***
16–24 years	633	16.4	160	18.6	45	15.2	61	9.0
25–39 years	1,117	28.9	269	31.2	90	30.3	191	28.1
40–64 years	1,417	36.7	341	39.6	135	45.5	349	51.3
65+ years	695	18.0	92	10.7	27	9.1	79	11.6
Country of birth
Australia	2,958	76.6	647	75.1	231	77.5	514	75.6
Other	903	23.4	214	24.9	67	22.5	165	24.3
Language spoken at home
LOTE	461	11.9	121	14.1	33	11.1	75	11.0
English	3,401	88.1	740	85.9	265	88.9	604	89.0
Employment*
Full-time	1,577	42.9	365	44.4	135	47.4	261	39.0
Part-time	673	18.3	148	18.0	64	22.5	145	21.6
Not employed	1,422	38.7	309	37.6	86	30.2	264	39.3
Annual household income**
Less than $20,000	824	24.3	151	19.8	52	20.2	141	23.5
$20,001 – $50,000	1,111	32.8	236	30.9	97	37.7	239	39.8
$50,001 – $80,000	783	23.1	210	27.5	62	24.1	123	20.5
Greater than $80,000	672	19.8	166	21.8	46	17.9	97	16.2
Residential remoteness
Highly accessible	2,586	67.2	590	68.7	204	69.2	455	67.5
Accessible	799	20.8	179	20.8	66	22.4	151	22.4
Moderately accessible	401	10.4	83	9.7	22	7.5	55	8.2
Remote	50	1.3	5	0.6	3	1.0	8	1.2
Very remote	10	0.3	2	0.2	0	0.0	5	0.7

ISSN: 1472-6831