Odontophobia

Fear of Dentists (or teeth)

With 9 out of 100 people being irrationally scared of the dentists, Odontophobia stands at number 6 in the list of top 10 phobias in the world.

Many adults are terrified of visiting the dentist. Dental anxiety ranges from mild uneasiness (experienced by many of us), to acute anxiety/panic attacks. When a person will not go at all to the dentist despite needing treatment, they can be said to be suffering from dental phobia.

Causes

The particular fears of visiting the dentist vary from person to person, some people have their fear triggers by the sound of the drill, or the thought of the needles in the sensitive areas of their mouth. for some it is loss of control which is most feared, for others it is the fear of pain.

Dental phobias generally develop from childhood, where a traumatic experience may have left us with feelings of anxiety about going to the dentist. However, an interesting fact is that if fist time you encounter something you have a positive experience, regardless of whether it goes on to be traumatic, we develop an immunity to developing a phobia. this is called "latent inhibition" and it is the reason that young children now get to go to the dentist for a couple of times initially, get a sticker and have no treatment other than just a quick look with the mirror.

Symptoms

As with any phobia, the symptoms vary by person depending on their level of fear. The symptoms typically include extreme anxiety, dread and anything associated with panic such as shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, nausea, inability to articulate words or sentences, dry mouth and shaking.

Management

Some suggestions for helping you manage a dental phobia include:

• Find a sympathetic dentist and gain access to the vast array of different types of sedation (including happy gas, tablets, etc)
• Consult with a CBT therapist and put together a hierarchy to help you overcome your fear. This may begin by sitting and thinking about an appointment with your therapist, then perhaps driving past your dentist, or sitting in the waiting room (without an appointment), until you feel completely comfortable about going for that appointment.