Fear of the dentist or dental health services is one of the important health problems seen in society. This is a very distressing situation for both the health worker and the person. Because the fear experienced causes the person to never go to the dentist despite having problems in oral and dental health, or not to go to the dentist regularly even if he does.
People who disrupt their oral and dental health treatment due to the dentist or other fears may face an unhealthy mouth, bad odor and various heart diseases.
Cooperation between psychiatrist-psychologist-dentist is very important in overcoming the fear of dentist. All irrational fears of blood, injury, needles and other similar medical procedures are evaluated under the heading of blood – injury phobia in the DSM IV. However, as blood-injury phobia is popularly known as bloodstain, the fear of dentist and treatment is a very different situation from the title mentioned.
Why Fear the Dentist?
The person’s past experiences with the dentist greatly affect this fear. Fear of the dentist usually occurs after a person has had a painful treatment. In addition, it is known that the approach of the dentist to the person who comes to receive treatment is also effective in the fear of treatment. Apart from the fact that the person’s own experiences cause this fear, the negative experiences that he/she hears or observes indirectly from another person will also expose the person to this negative learning. Fear of the dentist does not develop only because of the dentist, painful treatment, learned or indirect experiences. The person may also be adversely affected by the white coat, the smell of medicine or the places where there is a medical practice.
The person may be afraid of working with an organ that he cannot observe during the treatment, because he does not know what many tools do and cannot control. Although oral sedation is provided to keep the person awake during dental intervention, it is a very worrying process.
The Dentist’s Important Role in Overcoming Fear of Tooth Extraction
The physician should reassure the individual who comes for treatment, share the treatment in details, share that he will not feel any pain and that no action will be taken until he is sure enough about the numbness. In the treatment room, there may be a visual broadcast or soothing background music to distract the person. If the dentist often gives information about the stages of the application during the intervention, it will help the patient to relax. The patient’s clear sharing of fears and anxieties with the dentist will lead to cooperation in treatment, and a treatment that is free from anxiety or fears will be provided.
Source: Sizsize.milliyet.com.tr/Sağlık/Dis_Koltugu_Fobisi_Olanlara_Tavsiyeler/HaberDetay/11748