Assessment of dental anxiety: A facet approach.

Used a facet design to construct a new Dental Anxiety Inventory (DAI), which was tested in 5 studies among 1,401 undergraduates and 174 patients. Facets chosen were time (made up of 4 elements: at home, on your way to the dentist, in the dentist's waiting room, in the dental chair), situation (3 elements: introductory aspects, dentist-patient interaction, actual dental treatment); and reaction (3 elements: subjective feelings, physical reactions, cognitive reactions). Psychometric qualities of the DAI were good. The internal structure of the DAI was studied by linear and nonlinear techniques and was partially recovered from the data. The construct and criterion validity of the DAI was supported.