Clinical characteristics of somatization in dental practice

Abstract

Objectives: This study was a first attempt to derive an estimate of the likely incidence of somatization-specific behaviour in a dental setting and its relationship with both somatic symptoms and symptoms of depression. Methods: Somatization-specific behaviour was operationalized as reporting of inexplicable dental symptoms (eg pain), remarkable frequent attendance at a dental surgery, inexplicably high treatment use or unreasonable requests with regard to treatment. Results: Of the 309 patients surveyed, 8.7% fulfilled one or more of the criteria for somatization-specific behaviour. This was particularly manifested by a high attendance rate (6.8%). Women exhibited somatization-specific behaviour significantly more often (73%) than men (27%). Support was found for the hypothesis that individuals exhibiting characteristics of somatization-specific behaviour would present themselves to dentists more often with dental complaints and would suffer more from symptoms of depression than patients that did not display these characteristics. Conclusions: The results suggest that somatization is a factor in dental practice.