Dentophobia is the fear of the dentist which can manifest as obsessive thoughts about what could happen at the dentist, anxiety when at appointments, or even avoiding going to the dentist altogether. Dentophobia is quite a common condition, with many people reporting being scared of dental visits.
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What Is Dentophobia?
Dentophobia is when someone has an intense fear of the dentist. Not surprisingly, one of the consequences of fearing the dentist is avoiding necessary dental treatment. Dentophobia is estimated to affect about 36% of the population to varying degrees.1 Therefore, it is likely that either you or someone you know suffers from this condition.
Dentophobia Vs. Dental Anxiety
There is a distinction between general dental anxiety and having dentophobia.While someone with dental anxiety might have uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety, or even some procrastination or avoidance behavior about their appointments, they are able to attend them for checkups and cleanings when needed.2
Someone with dentophobia, however, is likely to engage in more avoidant behaviors, and may even avoid going to the dentist until they have trouble with their teeth that makes attending an appointment unavoidable.3 Phobias, while also anxiety-producing, are more likely to cause extreme distress and avoidance.
Why Do People Fear the Dentist?
The root causes of dental anxiety are often underlying traumatic dental experiences, such as a previous experience of pain or extreme discomfort at the dentist, or even being exposed to someone else in pain at the dentist. Having an anxiety disorder, fear of pain, or feelings of helplessness or embarrassment can make this fear worse.
Having anxiety about a medical appointment can lead to avoidance. And this avoidance can actually increase any already-present health conditions because they are not being treated. Then it becomes a cycle of avoidance and worsening health that could have been avoided by just doing the appointment in the first place. However, this is easier said than done when anxiety is affecting you.
Someone with dentophobia may be afraid of any of the following:
- Anesthetic: An anesthetic is something that numbs you from pain, either an injection or topical. While the aesthetic itself isn’t usually cause for fear,it is often the concern that the anesthetic won’t work, or that it will stop working in the middle of a procedure.
- Blood: The fear of blood is common in many people, and can often be the cause of, or increase worries of, dental anxiety.
- Choking: Nobody enjoys the sensation of having something in their throat. Since dental instruments often go deep inside someone’s mouth or even into their jaw or throat, this can create anxiety about choking.
- Pain: Dental visits have long been associated with pain. In previous generations, it was difficult or even impossible to have a painless dental visit. But advances in medical and dental technology have changed that, so it is possible to have a completely painless, or only a slightly painful, dental visit.
- Needles: Fear of needles is a very common phobia for many people. While not all dental visits will have needles, it is often just the thought or fear of them that can cause enough anxiety to provoke avoidance behaviors.
- Smell: Like many medical offices, dentists often have a particular smell, such as fluoride or cleaning products. It is common for those with dental anxiety to associate these smells with uncomfortable feelings.
- The environment: For many with dental anxiety, even the sight of the waiting room or the smell of the sterile environment can provoke uncomfortable feelings or sensations.
- Germs: Fear of the dentist has been shown to be linked to fear of germs for some people.4
- Sounds: Many people worry about the sounds of a dental office, such as the sound of a drill or the suctioning sound.
- Sensations: Dentists offices can often have uncomfortable sensations such as being cold, or having an uncomfortable chair.
- Sensory struggles: For people with sensory issues, the sound or feeling of the suction tube is often anxiety provoking.
Dentophobia Symptoms
There are various symptoms and signs that someone might have dentophobia. While anxiety is often one of the first signs, people can also experience dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea, or engage in avoidance behaviors such as canceling appointments.
Dentophobia symptoms can range from mild to severe and may include:
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Heart palpitations
- Panic attacks
- Intense nervousness
- Avoiding or delaying appointments
- Nightmares of dental visits
- Crying
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite
- Self medicating with substances
Options For Anxiety Treatment
Talk Therapy – Get help from a licensed therapist. Betterhelp offers online therapy starting at $65 per week. Free Assessment
Psychiatry for Anxiety – Looking for anxiety treatment that prioritizes you? Talkiatry can help. Find an in-network psychiatrist you can see online. Get started with our short assessment. Visit Talkiatry
8 Ways to Overcome Dental Anxiety
There are some tips and coping strategies that can help someone get past their fear of the dentist. These strategies are best for people with mild to moderate dental anxiety that can be treated with coping skills. Those who have severe dentophobia likely require professional treatment such as therapy or medication.
Here are eight ways to deal with a fear of the dentist:
1. Recognize & Confront the Fear
The importance of awareness and acceptance as the first step towards managing dental fear. If you have mild anxiety, simply acknowledging and validating it could be comforting and could allow you to attend your appointments. Try calling out the fear, even just in your mind, by saying “I am experiencing anxiety about this dental appointment.” Then, follow it up by saying, “But I will overcome this and make it though.”
2. Choose the Right Dentist & Build Trust
Distrust of the dental practitioner is sometimes a cause of anxiety for some people.4 Therefore, finding a dentist who you feel comfortable with and who you trust can make a huge difference. Look for someone who understands dental anxiety and who is willing to work with you to help your anxiety. There are some dentists who specialize in assisting those with dental anxiety or dentophobia.
3. Listen to Calming Music
Music can be a great tool for calming symptoms of nervousness and uneasiness. Listening to calming music during your appointments can help.3 Bring along some earbuds and a playlist that is both distracting and calming. Inform the dentist that you will be listening to music to help you deal with your feelings, and they should be understanding and accommodating.
4. Breathwork
When we are anxious, we often forget to breathe correctly, which can actually increase our anxiety. There are various breathwork and other exercises for anxiety could help you stay calm before and during your dental appointments.Try incorporating breathwork into your appointment and see if this helps.
Some common anxiety exercises include:
5. Distract Yourself
For some, anxiety increases when they focus on their worries and concerns. For them, finding a way to distract from their anxious thoughts can be beneficial. “ Many people find bringing distractions to the dental chair to be effective.”3
Phobia Is Often A Sign of OCD
Many people with intense phobias also struggle with misdiagnosed OCD. The first step to getting help is an accurate clinical assessment and diagnosis. NOCD’s therapists will provide a comprehensive assessment of your experience. If they find that you do not meet the criteria for OCD, they will still help assist you in identifying what you may be experiencing. Get Started With A Free 15 Minute Call
6. Guided Imagery
The process of guided imagery for anxiety helps to comfort the mind and decrease any anxiety symptoms such as a racing heart or high blood pressure. Guided imagery can also orient us to the present, and can relax feelings of anxiety and accompanying sensations. This can be done mentally, such as using a visual imagery exercise with headphones. Some research suggests that imagery can help patients dealing with dental anxiety.5
7. Go With a Friend or Partner
Taking someone with you can help alleviate some of the anxiety and stress of the appointment. “…some patients find comfort in bringing a friend or family member to the appointment”.3
8. Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
If your dentophobia is preventing you from going to the dentist, it can affect your health. Many people get a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication prior to appointments. There are even some dentists who will prescribe valium or use sedation/laughing gas to help patients get through their appointments.3
Dentophobia Treatment Options
There are many different phobia treatments to help people learn to cope with the sensations that arise. Therapeutic techniques specifically for phobias can help decrease the obsessive thoughts and uncomfortable sensations that come up when exposed to the phobia.
Some possible treatment options for dentophobia include:
- Exposure therapy: By gradually exposing clients to the distressing event or source, exposure therapy can help people with dentophobia learn how to decrease the uncomfortable feelings associated with the dentist.
- Cognitive behavior therapy: By learning how our thoughts affect our feelings and behaviors, CBT for phobias can help people learn how to cope with uncomfortable feelings around the dentist.
- Medication: For many people, anxiety medications are considered for treatment of their dentophobia in order to decrease the negative sensations surrounding dental visits. Benzodiazepines such as ativan or medications such as valium or xanax are commonly prescribed for people to take prior to the appointment in order to make the visit more manageable.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The ACT technique involves using mindfulness to help people accept that there will be situations that bring distressful feelings, but there are ways to cope with these feelings.
- Group Therapy: Because phobias can often feel isolating, attending group therapy can help you feel validated by listening to others with the same, or similar, conditions and how they learned to work through them.
- Hypnotherapy: Hypnosis helps to calm anxiety around the dentist by helping clients relax and explore some of the subscious issues that are contributing to the fears.4
When & Where to Find Professional Help for Dentophobia
Fear of the dentist is very common. If you are dealing with it, and struggle to make or keep dental appointments due to this fear, consider professional treatment.
Finding a therapist is easier than ever with an online therapist directory. Try searching for a therapist licensed in your state who treats anxiety disorders or phobias, or even one who specifically works with clients with dentophobia.
In My Experience
In my experience, the suction tube at the dentist provokes extreme physical discomfort for me because I have a sensory processing disorder. Therefore, it is not the pain, or assumption of pain that bothers me, but the sound and sensation of the tube suctioning. When I finally opened up to my dentist about this fear, it was a crucial moment for me because it allowed me to work with them to find a way to make this more manageable for me. However, this is easier said than done when anxiety creeps in. This is why getting support for dentophobia is crucial to your mind, but also your health.
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