Dental Fear, Anxiety, and Phobia
Eli Ilana in Oral Psychophysiology, 2020
It is clear that in the dental situation fear and anxiety are practically indistinguishable. The patient is confronted with both “real” and “imagined” threats (see Chapter 2) and reacts with different degrees of apprehension. Usually, the term “dental fear” is used to describe moderate apprehension which causes tension before and during treatment, but enables the patient to receive dental care. Dental anxiety describes a more profound apprehension which actually interferes with routine treatment and requires special attention. The term “dental phobia” is typically used to refer to patients whose anxiety is so great that it leads to total avoidance of dental care, including practical oral neglect. In the present text the terms “dental fear” and “dental anxiety” will be used interchangeably.
Middle childhood
Dr Quentin Spender, Dr Judith Barnsley, Alison Davies, Dr Jenny Murphy in Primary Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2018
As this is the age range when children lose their milk teeth and acquire their secondary dentition, regular attendance at a dentist is important. This will not only help maintain the function of the teeth they have, but should also develop the habit of going to the dentist as a positive experience. Children who attend the dentist only when there is a painful procedure to be done are at risk of developing a dental phobia.
Patients’ multifaceted views of dental fear in a diagnostic interview
Published in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2021
Pirjo Kurki, Maija Korhonen, Kirsi Honkalampi, Anna Liisa Suominen
Furthermore, dentists may suffer stress from treating dentally anxious patients [7]. Although a patient’s state of anxiety is reduced when dentists have information about this prior to care [8], dentists rarely utilise this possibility [9]. In order to specify a patient’s fears, it is recommended to measure their fear level before dental care by asking them a simple question about dental fear [10,11] or by using validated psychometric measures of dental anxiety [12]. For example, the reliability of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) [13] has been verified in studies [14]. The three concepts of fear (= fear, anxiety, phobia) have been defined [15] and considered in the quite new Index of Dental Fear and Anxiety (IDAF-4C+) [16]. The first of the three modules in this index assess the emotional, behavioural, cognitive, and physiological components of the anxiety and fear response with eight items. In addition, the researchers have developed structured interview guides to obtain knowledge about more specific factors related to problem-oriented situations during an appointment [17,18]. When dental fear or anxiety is severe and disturbs a person’s daily life, it can meet the criteria for a specific phobia included in anxiety disorders, according to the criteria of psychiatric disorders, DSM-5 [19].
Effectiveness of hypnosis on pain and anxiety in dentistry: Narrative review
Published in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 2022
Julio José Silva, Joyce Da Silva, Luiz Felipe Souza, Danúbia Sá-Caputo, Celia Martins Cortez, Laisa Liane Paineiras-Domingos, Mário Bernardo-Filho
Ferdeghini et al., (2018) evaluated sensations referred by patients submitted to the hypnotic approach after dental treatment. Of the 42 patients who presented, 38 were included in the study. The other 4 patients were not selected because they presented psychiatric problems, including schizophrenia and severe depressive diseases. It is possible that hypnosis is contraindicated for certain psychiatric and neurologic diseases. Most patients, 32 (84.2%), had other phobic symptoms besides their dental phobia. At the end of the dental treatment and hypnosis session, all patients were asked to answer a questionnaire. Most patients found the procedure extremely useful. This usefulness of hypnosis consisted in a global state of relaxation and sedation that accompanies the entire dental treatment, a modified perception of pain that simulated analgesia, and an altered perception of procedure time with the sensation of shorter duration. The authors concluded that hypnosis would be eminently adequate in dental treatment, especially for patients presenting dental phobia.
Association between sensory processing and dental fear among female undergraduates in Japan
Published in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2019
Mika Ogawa, Nozomu Harano, Kentaro Ono, Yukiyo Shigeyama-Tada, Tomoko Hamasaki, Seiji Watanabe
Avoiding dental treatment because of fear [1] results in poor dental health [2] and reduced quality of life [3,4]. Approximately, 40% of Japanese [5,6] patients have reported high levels of dental fear. Epidemiological studies from other countries have revealed that approximately 15%–40% of communities have experienced high levels of dental fear [7–9]. Dental fear is a complex phenomenon with exogenous and endogenous components [10]. The most important exogenous component of dental fear is a traumatic or painful dental experience in the past [11]. Negative dental experiences of family or friends and/or social media can influence dental fear [12]. Moreover, personal factors, such as anxiety, panic disorders and depression representing endogenous components, contribute to dental fear development [13–15]. In addition, sex differences in dental fear have been reported; women tend to be more fearful than men [16,17].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Adolescence
- Anxiety
- Child
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dentistry
- Likert Scale
- Sedation
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Coping
- Hypnosis