Pessimists more likely to have poor oral health

London, Nov 12 (ANI): Pessimist people are more likely to have poor oral health, reveals a new study.

The researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand found that people with anxious personalities are likely to have more decayed or missing teeth.

They were so scared that "they would avoid the dentist altogether until the problem became so serious that treatment could no longer be avoided".

As a result, people who developed "dentally anxious" had more tooth decay than those who were not worried about treatment.

The study involving 1037 people showed that people with negative view of the world have double the number of rotten or missing teeth and fillings - 22, on average - by the time they were 32.

"Some in this group were also anxious due to bad dental experiences in the past. Usually, these people become more and more anxious through a vicious cycle of avoiding the dentist to the point where their dental condition becomes much worse," the Telegraph quoted lead researcher Professor Murray Thomson as saying.

"They then require more unpleasant treatment options such as lancing an abscess, root canal treatment or a tooth extraction. This reinforces their dental anxiety and makes it even less likely that they will attend the dentist next time they have a problem.

"The anxious ones tend to be more nervous than others, while the non-anxious tend to have more robust personalities, and are more able to cope with what life throws at them. These are the majority," he added.

The study is published in the journal Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. (ANI)