# Developing an Ontology for Dental Care-Related Fear and Anxiety:  Toward an Understanding of Problems in Dental Care Utilization

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2024 · $620,739

## Abstract

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.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10939840
- **Project number:** 1U01DE033978-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** William Duncan
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $620,739
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10939840

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10939840, Developing an Ontology for Dental Care-Related Fear and Anxiety:  Toward an Understanding of Problems in Dental Care Utilization (1U01DE033978-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10939840. Licensed CC0.

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