Dental Anxiety Vs Dental Phobia

Dental health issues can have an effect on more than just your mouth. That's why it's important to get to the right dental professional for your specific needs, and knowing the differences between each role can aid you immensely in your search.

This research paper is designed to review articles and books of professional journals in anxiety disorders, definition of anxiety disorder, review of current and past treatments of anxiety disorders, the new section and changes to anxiety disorder in the DSM-5, new treatments for anxiety disorders and medications for anxiety disorders. This paper will show spiritual considerations for treating anxiety disorders and how

Everybody that you come into contact with on a daily basis will have a fear of something but a phobia can be defined as an irrational fear, this can provoke feelings of intense anxiety and initiate avoidance behaviour.

There are many causes of dental phobia and reasons why individuals just do not want to visit the dentist bi-yearly for an exam or even for further procedures. While a lot of causes are unknown, there are some that are more obvious. Some people have a generalized fear of pain. This is a very common reason for an individual to skip the dentist office altogether. This reason of phobia is usually caused by an unpleased or painful previous dental experience or from someone else’s story about their negative experiences. An article from Web MD called Easing Dental Anxiety in Adults states, “Thanks to the many advances in dentistry made over the years, most of today’s dental procedures are considerably less painful or even pain-free” (2016).. A second cause behind some people’s dental phobia is fear of injections or fear of injection failure. The majority people are very afraid of needles. This fear increases when it involves needles inserted into their oral cavity. (Colgate, 2016). Some people even fear that the anesthesia has failed and it did not relieve them of their pain before the dental treatment begins. Along with the fear of injections comes the fear of anesthetic side effects. Some individuals dread the side effects that anesthesia is likely to cause, such as dizziness, nausea, and feeling faint. Others do not like the loss of feeling they experience in their oral cavity. A third cause of dental phobia is the feeling of helplessness and loss of control. People

Adolescence is a difficult time period in a young person’s transition into their later stage of both physical and mental development. Mood disorders are often overlooked during this time for the brain becoming more developed; however among children, anxiety disorders seem to be the most common disorders to be experienced (Nelson; Israel, pg 112). Barlow (2002) defines anxiety as a future-oriented emotion that is characterized by the inability to be in control and predict future events that can be potentially dangerous to the individual. Anxiety shares commonalities with fear, but the difference between the two being that fear is the initial response made from a present threat, where anxiety is due to a unknown future event. A common

Hook: Odontophobia is the fear of the dentist, shockingly, many have a fear of this, and even teeth themselves. The thought of some stranger taking drills and shiny metal tools to your mouth is enough to understand the fear itself. Odontophobia is the reason I didn’t choose the occupation of a dentist; I chose the work of a dental hygienist. A dental hygienist will: remove stains, and plaque from teeth, apply fluorides to help protect teeth, take and develop dental x-rays, assess the patients’ oral health and report findings to dentists, document patient care and treatment plans, and educate patients about oral hygiene techniques.

Those who have a fear of the dentist often forgo important preventive care, resulting in extensive decay, gum disease, and potentially life threatening infections. Sedation dentistry allows these people to overcome their fear and receive the care they need.

When comes for new changes, metathesis-phobia is always people’s enemy; especially, for students who are going to new schools. However, with the ability to blend in with others and my natural characteristic in socialization, I believe that I will be a valuable contribution to the dental team. Instead of seeing the change as a phobia, I often use it as a tool to improve myself when coping with different situations. In addition to the ability of adapting to changes, perseverance is also a big part of my personal characteristics. Hardships of life have never been obstacles for me to reach my goal and passion; instead, to me, they are just like challenges to spice up life.

Additionally, your dentist's office can help your child to overcome possible fears, by offering them extra TLC upon arrival, thus, it's essential that you inform the office about the apprehension your child is

Fear of the dentist is more common today than most people would imagine. You’re probably very familiar with individuals fearing the dentist, especially if you work or have worked in the dental field. So, what is dental fear? Is it an idea that our parents put in our heads because it was passed down to them from their parents? Is it an emotion that is formed based on images shaped in the mind about going to the dentist? Dental anxiety is abnormal fear or dread of visiting the dentist for preventative care or therapy and unwarranted anxiety over dental procedure. (U.S National Library of Medicine, N.D.) Patients who experience dental anxiety will have a sense of nervousness and unfounded worries or fears. “Some studies have concluded that 75% of people have at least some fear about dental visits.” (Penn Dental, May. 15, 2017.) Dental phobia is a more serious condition. It's an intense fear or dread. “People with dental phobia aren't merely anxious, they are terrified or panic stricken.” (Colgate, September 18, 2013.) Many people with dental phobia typically avoid the dentist unless they have pain and only find it necessary to seek treatment. Negative experiences in childhood are the most common causes of dental fear. So, what can we do to rationalize with our patients? Educate!

I can relate this experience to the periodontal course. This experience relates to it because Lisa lectured us on smoking tobacco cessation, as well as the over all health of an individual. I remember she told us that the oral health could influence the health of a human body. If a patient fails to visit the dental clinic regularly, it could be affecting his or her overall health. Also, I can relate this experience to my patients I have seen so far. So far in this semester, I have seen patient who have never been to the dentist due to dental anxiety. From what I have learned from them, it takes a lot of courage to go seek for oral hygiene care. Helping them understand the importance of seeking treatment regularly, helped improved their anxiety

In dentistry, anxiety is categorized into two: Dental phobia and dental anxiety. A person with dental phobia tends to avoid treatment maybe because of unpleasant experience in the past. Dental anxiety, by contrast, relates to the psychological and physiological variations of a non-pathological fear response to a dentist’s appointment or treatment. Individuals who cancels, avoids, or postpones dental visits are the anxious patients (Bhola and Malhotra, 2014).It is a major dilemma in pediatric dental practice and it exists in a considerable proportion of children and adolescents. According to the study of Gao et al (2013), about 6-15% of the world's adult population avoids dental care due to dental anxiety and dental phobia. The catastrophic

It is normal to experience some anxiety if you were told that you need to get a root canal done, as you will be thinking about what can go wrong leading up to the day of your scheduled appointment. Having some anxiety is normal, but you should not let it prevent you from having this necessary procedure done. Here are 3 natural methods for dealing with anxiety regarding your root canal.

However, there is a way to get around the phobic reaction to dentists and that is with sedation dentistry. What this entails is the use of drugs that are designed to relax the patient thus reducing the anxiety of the visit. This does not mean that the patient is put to sleep, on the contrary, they are fully awake and aware of what is going on.

However, phobia can even cause people to risk their health. For example, the fear of dentists can leave people suffering from it willing to risk the health of their teeth in order to avoid having to go through an exam or procedure ( MacKay). When one knows about an upcoming confrontation, it can be the reason why one can not sleep or finds it hard to focus on important tasks. Due the change in daily routine, this unrealistic fear can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, brought on by and object, event or situation. But even animals have anxieties and phobias just as every human being (www.phobia-help.de). A phobia is an irrational fear, one knows that the object or situation, one is scared off, can not hurt one, but one is still afraid. A reason for this is that the human mind can not distinguish what is real and imaginary. When one has uncontrollable anxiety attacks, he loses rational judgement, leading to complicated problems. However, anyone can develop a phobia, men and women, teens and young adults, and elderly lady or a one-year-old boy (MacKay).