Objective To investigate the prevalence of dental fear, dental and social anxiety, also observe the efficacy of psychological behavioral intervention in adult orthodontic patient. Methods 226 adult patients with dentognathic deformity who had the indication of orthodontic treatment with straight wire appliance, were randomly divided into the psychological behavioral intervention group and the control group. The former received psychological behavioral intervention, and the latter received common orthodontic knowledge education. A modified Corah dental anxiety scale（MDAS） was adopted to evaluate the dental anxiety in all patients after the first orthodontic
treatment, and the Liebowitz social anxiety scale（LSAS） was adopted to evaluate the social anxiety in all patients after 1 month treatment, 1 year treatment, respectively. Results After the first orthodontic treatment, there were significant difference between two groups in total score of MDAS（10.24±3.67，12.43±3.75）and the prevalence of anxiety（10.5%, 26.8%）. After 1 month orthodontic treatment, there were significant difference between two groups in total score of LSAS（36.71±10.42，58.23±9.74） and the prevalence of social anxiety（21.0%, 33.0%）. After 1 year treatment, there were also significant difference between two groups in total score of LSAS（24.73±10.62, 35.42±12.83）and the prevalence of social anxiety（2.6%, 12.5%）. Conclusion There was higher prevalence of dental and social anxiety in adult orthodontic patient, and the psychological behavioral intervention had good efficacy on it.
