Developing an Ontology for Dental Care-Related Fear and Anxiety: Toward an Understanding of Problems in Dental Care Utilization
Project Number1U01DE033978-01
Contact PI/Project LeaderDUNCAN, WILLIAM Other PIs
Awardee OrganizationUNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Description
Abstract Text
Project Summary/Abstract
Dental care-related fear, anxiety, and/or phobia (hereafter, DFA) traditionally refers to the emotional,
behavioral, and/or physical responses that may occur when thinking about or engaging in dental care. There is
ample evidence in the scientific literature that DFA is associated with greater prevalence of oral conditions and
diseases, including dental caries, tooth loss, and periodontal disease, leads to avoidance of both preventive
and restorative dental care, and impairs oral health-related quality of life. Moreover, these observed
associations appear to pervade populations and are global in nature, and, although significant advances in
pain management and anxiety control, society-wide estimations of the prevalence of dental care-related
fear/anxiety have remained relatively constant for over half a century.
Despite the impact of DFA on oral health, the scientific literature is replete with terminology that refers
only to dental fear or only to dental anxiety, yet in the broader psychological literature, fear and anxiety are
known to be separate constructs with unique manifestations. This lack of consistency and interoperability
between the medical and dental care communities in defining and classifying such phenomena has contributed
to the current stalemate in scientific progress as it relates to understanding the etiology and implications of
such phenomena in the dental care context. Without a consensus on the definition, types, scope, and etiology
of DFA, the associated individual, clinical, and population impacts, and viable strategies for intervening to
mitigate or manage such impacts the impact of DFA cannot be adequately studied.
To address these terminological shortcomings, we have created the Ontology of Dental care-related
Fear, and Anxiety, and/or Phobia (ODFA). By more precisely representing the types of fear and/or anxiety
experienced by individuals, the ODFA’s concepts and relations facilitate the development of tools and
resources capable of enhancing our understanding of the individual, clinical, and population impacts of dental
care-related fear and anxiety. When applied to study data, the ODFA enables the integration and
interoperability of data from multiple studies, which, in turn, provides a means to perform rigorous analysis on
larger datasets in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon and treatments for DFA.
Public Health Relevance Statement
Project Narrative
This research aims to create a controlled vocabulary for terms defining and classifying dental-care related fear,
anxiety, and/or phobia (DFA). We do this by developing the Ontology of Dental care-related Fear, and Anxiety,
and/or Phobia (ODFA). The ODFA’s concepts and relations facilitate the development of tools and resources
capable of enhancing our understanding of the impacts of DFA, and when applied to study data, the ODFA
enables the integration and interoperability of data from multiple studies.
NIH Spending Category
No NIH Spending Category available.
Project Terms
AddressAdolescenceAdultAgreementAnxietyAnxiety DisordersAppointmentAppointments and SchedulesBehavioralCaringChildhoodClassificationClinicalClinical PsychologyCommunitiesCommunity HealthcareConsensusControlled VocabularyDataData SourcesDentalDental AnxietyDental CareDental EpidemiologyDental cariesDentistryDevelopmentEmergency SituationEmotionalEndodonticsEtiologyFrightFunctional disorderGoalsHealth Services ResearchImpairmentIndividualInterventionLiteratureMapsMedicalMouth DiseasesNatureOntologyOral healthOutcomePainPain managementPatientsPatternPeriodontal DiseasesPhobiasPopulationPrevalencePreventivePreventive careProceduresProcessPulp CanalsResearchResearch PersonnelResourcesScientistSemanticsSocietiesStructureSymptomsTaxonomyTerminologyTestingThinkingTimeTooth LossVocabularybehavioral and social sciencecare seekingdata interoperabilitydata resourceexperiencehealth related quality of lifeinteroperabilitylarge datasetslexicalmultidisciplinaryontology developmentoral conditionpsychologicresponsesocietal costsstemtool development
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
CFDA Code
121
DUNS Number
969663814
UEI
NNFQH1JAPEP3
Project Start Date
15-August-2024
Project End Date
31-May-2029
Budget Start Date
15-August-2024
Budget End Date
31-May-2025
Project Funding Information for 2024
Total Funding
$620,739
Direct Costs
$429,871
Indirect Costs
$190,868
Year
Funding IC
FY Total Cost by IC
2024
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
$1
2024
NIH Office of the Director
$620,738
Year
Funding IC
FY Total Cost by IC
Sub Projects
No Sub Projects information available for 1U01DE033978-01
Publications
Publications are associated with projects, but cannot be identified with any particular year of the project or fiscal year of funding. This is due to the continuous and cumulative nature of knowledge generation across the life of a project and the sometimes long and variable publishing timeline. Similarly, for multi-component projects, publications are associated with the parent core project and not with individual sub-projects.
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Outcomes
The Project Outcomes shown here are displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. NIH has not endorsed the content below.
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Clinical Studies
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History
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