Psychological symptoms and self-image of patients with complaints attributed to dental restorative materials.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to study self-image and the level of psychological symptoms in patients with symptoms attributed to their dental restorative materials. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire containing questions regarding dental and medical history was answered by 257 participants, one group with local oral symptoms only (LSO), and one group with multi-symptoms (M-S). A reference group was randomly selected from a research database at the Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Sweden. The self-image was assessed using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB). Psychological symptoms such as somatization, depression, and anxiety were assessed using the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90) and the Global Severity Index (GSI) was used to determine the level of psychological symptoms. RESULTS: SASB showed that the M-S group and the LSO-group scored significantly higher on the "spontaneous" and "positive self-image" than the reference group. In the SCL-90, the M-S group scored significantly higher than the LSO-group and the references on the somatization subscales. On depression, anxiety, and the GSI scale, the M-S group scored significantly higher than the reference group. CONCLUSIONS: The two subgroups scored significantly higher on the SASB Spontaneous and Positive clusters which indicates that these patients have an excessively positive self-image, are very spontaneous and have an overconfidence in themselves compared to the reference group. In the M-S group there was a clear tendency to somatization, depression, and anxiety and they were more psychologically stressed than the reference group. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Among the patients with illness attributed to their dental materials, the M-S-patients had a significantly higher level of general psychological distress and somatization than the control group which may lead to mental stress.