Dentophobia (Odontophobia) - Causes, Common Fear and Symptoms

What Is Dentophobia?

Phobia means fear of something or someone. We might have come across so many phobias in our day-to-day lives, but this particular phobia is something almost anyone and everyone could have. That is fear of a dentist or a dental visit called dentophobia, also known as odontophobia. Dentophobia has conquered most of the population, even those without a prior dental experience, as it is like a contagious disease that spreads from person to person when someone gives a bad opinion about a dental visit. This phobia has made people delay even the necessary treatments and consider them trivial to the dental fear.

How Important Is a Dental Visit?

A dental visit is nothing but a necessity for good oral health. It ensures that the oral cavity is checked at regular intervals for problems ranging from mild tartar (deposits) to oral cancer. Most dental problems occur due to following a wrong lifestyle pattern and can be treated with minor alterations in lifestyle and conservative dental treatments. Detecting a dental problem earlier can help the patient get lesser invasive treatments and be treated at ease without wanting to go through discomfort, thereby making the dental experience more comfortable. Falling back on dental appointments worsens the existing dental problem resulting in pain and discomfort.

What Are the Causes of Dentophobia?

The common causes of dentophobia or odontophobia include;

Past Experience:

The person fearing a dentist or dental treatment might have had a distressing past dental encounter, which makes them dread dental visits.

Familial History:

• If the odontophobia person previously accompanied a family member or friend when undergoing dental treatment and had an unpleasant experience.

• If a family member gives negative feedback about the dental experience, the person listening could acquire odontophobia even without having a dental encounter of their own.

• Parents taunting their children with the need for a dental appointment if they fail to maintain good oral hygiene portrays the dentist as a scary person to the child and develops a fear of dentists or dentophobia.

Insecurities:

• Those with insecurities about their oral hygiene and the alignment, appearance, and color of their teeth.

• Persons who suffer trust issues; fear that if the dentist is well-experienced, only then they can do the procedure correctly, and so on.

• People who consider examining their oral cavity as a breach into their personal space.

Other Fears:

• Fear of losing teeth.

• Fear of pain, needles, blood, sharp instruments, fear of ingestion of dental equipment or materials, fear of choking, etc.

• Fear of getting taunted or insulted for not maintaining good oral hygiene.

Habits:

Persons with a high tendency to overthink or overimagine after reading about dental treatments. Those with other phobias or people who fear easily by nature.

Germophobia:

People who have germaphobia very often wonder about the clinic's hygiene and equipment, which triggers their fear factor.

Other Psychological Conditions:

Patients who are suffering from anxiety or panic disorders, other phobias such as fear of a doctor, fear of touch, fear of vomiting, etc., carry a high risk of developing a dentophobia.

What Are the Common Fear Triggers in a Dental Clinic?

• Some dental clinical setups can themselves act as a fear trigger in a dentophobia person.

• Anyone who has had a dental visit will know how noisy dental machines are; these sounds produced by the dental machines can make anyone without a previous experience or someone with a bad dental encounter fear nonetheless.

• The dental focus light that is directed at the patient's mouth could act as a triggering factor.

• Dental instruments; Introducing sharp tools into the mouth might cause anxiety in some.

• The thought of going to a dental clinic or meeting a dentist itself can instigate fear in a dentophobia person.

What Are the Symptoms in a Person With Odontophobia?

A person with odontophobia might have symptoms ranging from mild to severe, depending upon how severe the fear is and how well the person handles it. The common symptoms of dentophobia include;

• Feeling nervous immediately after entering a dental clinic.

• Sleeplessness on the previous night before the dental appointment thinking of the dental visit.

• Rapid heartbeat.

• Feeling dizzy and restless.

• Nausea.

• Vomiting immediately after the dentist introduces a dental instrument.

• Shivering and feeling cold.

• Crying or expressing emotions when asked to get a dental treatment or while getting one.

• Upset stomach on the day of the dental appointment.

• Panic attacks.

How to Overcome Dentophobia?

The following steps, if practiced properly, can come a long way in overcoming dentophobia. Dentophobia is a psychological issue that can be corrected with utmost patient cooperation and the patient's will to overcome it. Here are a few tips for overcoming dentophobia:

• Always trust any dentist consulted, even if you do not know them personally. Every dentist would have studied their subject and are well aware of what they are doing; also, they would have similar patients previously, so trust them.

• Communicate the feelings about getting a dental treatment, the fears faced, and the discomfort encountered by the dentist. Once the dentist knows the fears and how to make the patient feel comfortable, they will modify their treatment accordingly.

• Take one step at a time. Start with the least invasive one, which obviously is getting a dental checkup when starting a dental journey.

• When you have a dental appointment fixed, to know what goes about in a dental appointment, try to accompany close ones who are well aware of dental visits.

• Make sure not to expect every dentist encountered to be the same and to be following the same treatment methods. Each dentist has their own way of treating patients.

• Take deep and slow breaths before the dental appointment to ease and feel fine before the dental treatment.

• While undergoing treatment, carry a headphone to listen to calming music during the procedure and block the dental machines' unpleasant sounds.

• Feel free to ask the dentist for breaks during the procedure when there is discomfort.

For Dentists:

What Can a Dentist Do to Make a Dentophobiac Comfortable?

• Make the patient comfortable as and when they enter the dental clinic.

• The receptionist plays a major role in comforting an anxious patient as they are the first person that a patient encounters in a clinic; the receptionist should make sure they do not behave rudely, make them comfortable, and handle the patient with care.

• Explain the procedure to be performed in detail and clear out the patient's doubts with patience.

• Make sure to obtain patient consent before undergoing the procedure.

• Assure the patient that the procedures will be performed with utmost care.

• Do not rush the patient into getting procedures that are not an emergency. Explain to them the advantages of getting the procedure and wait for them to decide.

• Schedule comfortable and less invasive procedures in the first appointment.

• Maintain proper communication with the patient.

• Play soft and calming music and set distractions for the patient.

• Make sure to understand the patient's fears and needs and know that pain tolerance varies with the person.

• Fix appointments with dentophobia patients in the less busy hours or early mornings.

What Are the Medical Approaches to Dentophobia?

1. Behavioral Therapies: Therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy help the person with a dentophobia overcome the fears by changing the person's perspective toward worldly things and events.

2. Hypnotherapy: It is a type of hypnosis that helps the patient detach from the external happenings; in this case, it detaches from the thought of going through a dental treatment.

3. Conscious Sedation: It is achieved with a combination of medications such as nitrous oxide that help the patient briefly forget any happenings experienced during the dental treatment. When in conscious sedation, the patient can respond to the questioning and can talk as well.

4. Guided Meditation: It helps achieve peace of mind and relaxation before a dental procedure.

Conclusion:

Overcoming dentophobia is a mental work that a patient has to work on continuously. Dental visits are a necessary part of everybody's life as they can rule out a dental problem as soon as they root in or even before the start by identifying the signs and symptoms. So, never consider it unimportant to make a dental appointment because of the underlying dentophobia. Take the required support from professionals and work on overcoming dentophobia by taking one step at a time.