Dental Phobia

Dental phobia is an irrational and severe fear of dentistry and of receiving dental care. This fear has varying degrees of intensity and many different names, such as odontophobia, dentophobia, dentist phobia and dental anxiety.

When people with dental phobia are exposed to what they fear, an immediate anxiety response is triggered which may take the form of a panic attack. Behavior characteristic of people with dental phobia includes spending an excessive amount of time thinking about teeth, dentists or dental situations, or an unwarranted amount of time trying not to think of teeth, dentists or dental situations. People with dental phobia avoid dental care at all costs.

Causes of Dental Phobia

The causes of dental phobia usually stem from a traumatic, difficult or painful dental experience. A dental phobia may also develop after hearing about others' traumatic experiences or negative views of dentistry. Other causes could be a history of abuse, an uncaring dentist and humiliation.

Whatever the cause, people have learned to successfully manage dental phobia.

Treatment

The first step in treatment for dental phobia is often identifying the fear. Once the specific fear is recognized, a plan for overcoming the problem can be established, using a variety of behavioral and pharmacological techniques.

Specialized dental fear clinics use psychologists and dentists to help people learn to manage and decrease their fear of dental treatment. The goal of these clinics is to provide individuals with the fear management skills necessary for them to receive regular dental care with a minimum of fear or anxiety.

Most of the time, finding a specialized clinic is not necessary to help individuals manage and overcome fear of dentistry; many dental providers use similar behavioral and cognitive strategies to help patients reduce their fear. The key is communicating with the dentist what is needed to conquer the fear.

Behavioral and Cognitive Treatments
Behavioral treatments include learning techniques that help relax the body physically and mentally through deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation.

Cognitive techniques are thought-based, changing the way the person mentally approaches the fear. Guided imagery, systematic desensitization and cognitive restructuring are all types of cognitive treatments.

Pharmacological Treatments
Pharmacological techniques to manage dental fear range from mild sedation to general anesthesia and are often used by dentists in conjunction with behavioral techniques. Nitrous oxide or laughing gas is a common anxiety-reducing medication used in dentistry. The nitrous oxide is inhaled through a mask worn on the nose, causing relaxation and dissociation.

Dentists may prescribe an oral sedative, such as Xanax, Valium or Halcion. Oral sedatives may help people feel calmer and sometimes drowsy during dental treatment, but patients still are conscious and able to communicate with the dental staff. Intravenous sedation is administered directly into a patient’s arm or hand.

Psychological Treatment
Severe and persistent dental phobia that cannot be managed through other techniques can often be treated through psychological treatment with a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist.