Influence of the Serotonergic System Polymorphism on the Expression of Dental Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of the study was to test the correlation between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and dental anxiety. Research hypothesis was that positive relation between the expression of dental anxiety and the S allele exists in the population of healthy Caucasians. We conducted a prospective study on 159 subjects, volunteers made up of medical and non-medical staff of the Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Centre. Both genders were included, age range 19 to 59, mentally and physically healthy (according to DSM-5 classification of mental disorders). For the purpose of this research, we used a sociodemographic questionnaire containing the following information: age, gender, education level, work status, marital status and residence. Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale-Revised (DAS-R) was used to measure dental anxiety. Data distribution was tested by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, difference between the groups by χ2-test and one-way analysis of variance, and correlation of variables by logistic regression. In the study population, we found positive correlation between S-allele and total result in DAS-R questionnaire. The presence of S allele suggests that the person will have a higher result in DAS-R questionnaire, i.e. higher expression of dental anxiety.

Keywords

• Anxiety
• Dental anxiety
• Polymorphism, genetic
• Serotonin plasma membrane transport proteins
• Neuroticism
• Croatia