Association between dental fear, physical activity and physical and mental well-being among Finnish university students.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between physical and mental well-being and physical activity with dental fear among university students in Finland. We used the 2016 data from the Finnish student health survey ( = 3090). Perceived physical and mental well-being was ascertained with the questions 'How would you describe your current state of physical well-being?' and 'How would you describe your current state of mental well-being'. Dental fear was inquired with question 'Do you feel scared about dental care?' Associations between physical and mental well-being and dental fear were analyzed with cross tabulations and logistic regression analysis. When controlling for age, gender, educational sector, tobacco and alcohol use, those reporting poor or moderate physical or mental well-being were more likely to have high dental fear than were those reporting good physical or mental well-being. In addition to mental well-being, physical well-being was also associated with dental fear; those with poor or moderate physical well-being were more likely to have dental fear than were those with good physical well-being.