Clinical characteristics of somatization in dental practice

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.