The relationship between periodontal disease severity and state-trait anxiety level

Objective: to determine the relationship between the paroxysm related to periodontal disease and the state-trait anxiety level in patients attending a periodontology clinic in turkey. methods: the cross-sectional study involved 141 patients >18 years old attending the periodontology clinic at the dental faculty of erciyes university, turkey, between january and march 2009. a questionnaire developed by the researchers, the state-trait anxiety inventory index and the community periodontal index were used for data collection. spss 15, chi square test and unpaired students' t test were used for statistical analysis. results: gingivitis was present in 101 (71.6%) patietns, while periodontitis was found in 40 (28.4%). the mean age of periodontal patients was significantly higher than those of gingivitis patients (p<0.05). graduates were less likely to develop periodontitis than those who had only primary education (p<0.05). gingivitis was seen to be significantly higher in patients having poor oral hygiene (p<0.05). state-trait anxiety inventory scores of periodontal patients was significantly higher than those of gingivitis patients (p <0.05). patients with high state anxiety scores were more likely to have periodontitis. the most important variables associated with periodontitis and gingivitis were age, state- trait anxiety inventory, income level and needs for treatment, respectively. conclusion: periodontal treatment will improve if anxiety is diagnosed and relieved by different methods.