Introduction:

A visit to the dental office is described by many patients as a difficult situation.

Aim of the research:

Evaluate of the adult patients’ coping strategies with dental anxiety.

Material and methods:

The Mini-COPE inventory was used in a study of 69 adults.

Results:

No significant differences were found between age and the choice of stress coping strategies. People living in small towns obtained significantly higher results on the Planning and Turn to Religion scale than those living in a small town, and people with higher education – on the Dealing with Something Else scale than patients with a different level of education.

Conclusions:

Adult dental office patients with dental anxiety/fear are most likely to use positive/constructive coping strategies. The use of the Mini-COPE inventory to assess stress coping strategies should be one of the elements of the patient’s examination, contributing to increased personalisation of dental preventive and therapeutic care.