Dentophobia: overcoming the fear of the dentist

Maria Barnikova

Courage is a measure of fear and courage. According to sociological research, visiting the dentist for the majority of our fellow citizens is a colossal stressful situation. Today, more than 30% of the world's population, that is, every third inhabitant, experiences fear of dentists to varying degrees. The fear of the dentist is especially present among the older generation, who lived through the times of dental treatment without the use of anesthesia, among those […]

Courage is a measure of fear and courage

According to sociological studies, visiting the dentist for the majority of our fellow citizens is a colossally stressful situation. Today, more than 30% of the world's population, that is, every third inhabitant, experiences fear of dentists to varying degrees.

The fear of the dentist is especially present among the older generation, who have lived through the times of dental treatment without the use of anesthesia, among those who have personally experienced the painful procedure of removing or filling teeth. Such uncomfortable sensations are firmly entrenched in the subconscious, reaching the highest degree of fear in some people, turning into an anxiety-phobic disorder.

Dentophobia(also called dental phobia, odontophobia) – intense, irresistible panic, the object of which is dental treatment. Those with dental phobia prefer to endure excruciating toothache by self-medicating and taking strong painkillers, and go to the dental clinic only in extremely severe cases.

Manifestation of fear of the dentist - signs

The main difference between dental phobia and natural anxiety before an upcoming procedure at the dentist: panicky, logically inexplicable, insurmountable willpower anxiety that arises even from the thought of being at the dentist. With a normal fear of a drill, a person realizes that he has nothing to worry about, goes to talk to the doctor and, with the right approach from a specialist, calms down.

A dentophobe, finding himself in a dental chair, does not relax, but rather tenses up, cannot establish the necessary contact with the doctor, and does not allow the necessary procedures to be performed. From any of the safest and most painless actions of the dentist, such an atypical patient exhibits intense somatic manifestations, up to loss of consciousness.

Seeing the equipment and instruments in the office, a person suffering from a phobia begins to “defend” himself from the doctor with his hands and feet, and often shows extreme aggressiveness. The occurrence of such situations shows that the patient really cannot control and manage his fear.

It will not be possible to cope with this anxiety-phobic disorder only by refusing dental examinations that are necessary for your health. Untimely treatment of caries will develop into pulpitis, gum inflammation (periodontitis) will begin, and the damaged tooth will have to be removed. In addition, diseased teeth often cause destructive effects on the body as a whole, leading to inflammation of the ENT organs, bronchial asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease and other ailments.

Therefore, having identified signs of dental phobia, it is necessary to fight the disorder, especially since the current treatment methods can completely eliminate the manifestations of fear.

Causes of dental phobia

The exact cause of fear of the dentist has not yet been determined, but it has been studied that with anxiety disorder, changes occur in the functioning of the central nervous system: the production and metabolism of serotonin and norepinephrine.

Currently, the chain of processes occurring in the limbic system has been studied. Thalamus (Thalamus) – center for the image of sounds: evaluates their size, shape, color, timbre, volume, sound, and then transmits them to the cortex. Bark (Cortex) receives the evaluated signals and makes the brain aware of what is being observed or heard. The prefrontal cortex can turn off the alarm when there is no threat. Amygdala (Amygdala) – the emotional core of the brain: it emotionally colors the information passing through it, and also plays a dominant role in initiating an acute reaction to fear. Supporting nucleus of the stria terminalis (Bed Nucleus of Stria Terminals) in contrast to the amygdala, which induces an acute burst of fear, BNST“reinforces” the fear reaction, resulting in anxiety disorders. blue spot (Locus Cerulean) receives signals from the amygdala, is responsible for the classic somatic anxiety reaction, namely: tachycardia, increased blood pressure, sweating, mydriasis. Hippocampus (Hippocampus) is a memory center for storing information coming from the senses, which has already been emotionally “evaluated” by the amygdala.

The first symptoms of anxiety disorders often appear after significant mental experiences, prolonged stress, or changes in lifestyle, for example, after marriage or divorce.

A significant role in the occurrence of dental phobia belongs to genetic predisposition - heredity. In children and parents susceptible to anxiety-phobic disorder, certain objects of fear are often observed and similar manifestations of anxiety dominate. University staff Wisconsin-Madison during a survey of 570 young people, they found out that the fears that a woman experiences in the first months of pregnancy can be passed on to her daughter. The consequences of increased anxiety in a pregnant woman appear in a child 10-15 years later. By the way, boys have similar negative consequences not detected.

Quite often it is possible to discover a connection between dental phobia and negative emotions experienced in childhood when visiting a dental office. In approximately half of the children who experienced severe fear or pain during medical procedures, adolescence symptoms of anxiety-phobic disorders appear.

Another good reason leading to the formation of the disorder is a person’s reluctance to demonstrate to the doctor the poor, neglected condition of their teeth. Once provoked or aggravated by some tactless doctors who scold their client without choosing the right words, it can become a trigger for the emergence of a phobia.

In addition to the reasons described above, the occurrence of dental phobia is facilitated by:

• some mental disorders,
• low pain threshold in humans,
• characteristics of toothache, which is characterized by severity and severity,
• negative descriptions of dental treatment in the media,
• transferring existing negative treatment experience from other medical workers to the dental field,
• the emergence of a feeling of helplessness, awareness of the impossibility of controlling the process.

Understanding true reasons and the mechanism of manifestation of phobia is the first necessary step towards solving this problem.

How to get rid of the fear of the dentist?

Warning

Acute toothache in the presence of fear of dental procedures is often tried to be mitigated with strong painkillers, sedatives in combination with alcohol. Such “self-medication” - self-destruction when used regularly can not only lead to drug and alcohol addiction, but also cause a condition requiring emergency resuscitation measures.

Attention! In the presence of alcohol or drug addiction, treating dental phobia is much longer, more difficult and financially more expensive for the patient’s wallet.

Treatment of dental phobia

A timely visit to a psychologist or psychotherapist will help you avoid excessive anxiety and, over time, completely overcome your fears. Treatment of dental phobia will be more effective the earlier it is started. This is a rather long process, the duration of which depends on the degree of intensity and severity of the disease.

top scores for anxiety-phobic disorders brings A complex approach when drug treatment is combined with psychotherapy.

Drug treatment

The course of treatment for dental phobia is based on the use of antidepressants. Recent studies conducted simultaneously in several psychiatric institutes in Russia have shown that the best lasting results in the treatment of anxiety-phobic disorders are achieved when patients are prescribed serotonin-selective antidepressants (for example: cipramil).

These drugs normalize the production and metabolism of serotonin in the brain and eliminate anxiety. As a rule, even with long-term treatment, these antidepressants are well tolerated by patients. A noticeable effect occurs already 3 weeks after the start of use, and to achieve a sustainable result, you must continue taking them for at least 3 months.

Psychotherapy and other methods

Psychotherapy for dental phobia is aimed primarily at explanatory and educational work.

We will give just a few reasons for dental phobes, by studying which you can understand how to overcome your fear of the dentist.

• An alternative approach to dental treatment. For people with dental phobia, dentists suggest performing any dental procedures under sedation. This method allows the patient to completely calm down, introducing the person into a state similar to light, superficial sleep. After the procedures, the patient, as a rule, does not remember any discomfort, and he begins to understand that nothing “deadly” scary or dangerous can happen in the dentist’s office. In subsequent treatment sessions, he trusts the doctors to carry out the treatment under local anesthesia.
• Think about the fact that almost every person in the world visits the dentist, and nothing terrible has happened to them. Chat with loved ones and acquaintances who have visited the dentist recently. Almost all of them will say that they went through this procedure with ease and everything was fine with them. Your anatomy is the same, isn't it?
• Know that science has come a long way since your last visit to the dentist. In addition, scientists have discovered the latest painkillers, manufacturers have released innovative painless equipment for dental treatment.
• Remember, the human psyche is designed in such a way that the most intense pain is completely “erased” from memory within a maximum of 3 hours after exposure. Recall the most serious painful experience in your life. You will only be able to ascertain the fact of the painful impact - injury, but you will not be able to restore the sensation of pain. In the same way, the unpleasant sensations from manipulations in your oral cavity will disappear 2-3 hours after your visit to the dentist.
• Ask someone you feel comfortable with and trust to be with you during your dental examination. The presence of a soul mate in a “difficult” situation for you will act as a good sedative.
• Try the "Anchoring" method. Before your upcoming visit, try to remember as clearly as possible situations when you experienced calm, fearlessness, courage, and endurance. “Anchor” the emotions and feelings experienced then with the help of any image or gesture. And while you are in the dental office, maintain this positive image at all times.
• The final argument: the presence of any fear is not a reason to cultivate a guilt complex and engage in self-destruction. Every person has the right to negative experiences and worries. Some are afraid of flying, some of snakes, some of the dark. It so happened that you once chose to be afraid of the dentist. If you approach your problem confidently, seriously and responsibly, it will definitely be resolved.

Nothing can be done tomorrow, nothing can be done yesterday, only your present thoughts and actions will correct your memory into the past and give you a future without fears!

Article rating:

read also

Needed with early childhood. Modern clinics are equipped with the latest equipment, but many still have fear of visiting a dental office. Where does it come from? How not to be afraid of the dentist and go to dental treatment without feeling nervous? All these fears come from the past, when just the sight of a chair in the office made you feel uneasy.

Why are we afraid to treat our teeth?

Most human fears are far-fetched and exaggerated. The fear of pain is commonplace and is present in most people. It is also inconvenient that a person, sitting in a chair, cannot see what the dentist is doing in his mouth.

It is imperative to visit a doctor, otherwise it will affect your dental health. In the fear of dentists, as in any fear, one cannot miss the moment of its transition into a phobia, which is then very difficult to cure.

Banish bad thoughts from your head before visiting a doctor. Do not forget that modern medicine has the best equipment and painkillers.

Three forms of fear

To understand how to stop being afraid of the dentist, let's figure out why this happens. Human fears are divided into three types:

1. Acquired - based on personal experience. For example, negative interactions with dentists.
2. Congenital fears - appear due to genetic characteristics, low pain threshold or mental disorders.
3. Imaginary - appear on the basis of other people's reviews, mistrust of doctors.

It is important to regularly treat and prevent dental problems without waiting for the pain to intensify.

Anesthesia

Medicine is developing rapidly. In modern dentistry, the latest drugs are created and treatment methods are developed for children and adults. How not to be afraid of the dentist and enjoy visiting? Now all clinics offer a large selection of pain relief methods. They are divided into:

• Injectable.
• Non-injectable.

Injections are given both with disposable syringes and injectors. Such anesthesia, in turn, is divided into 3 types:

1. Infiltration - insertion of a needle into the transitional fold of the mucosa. This method is practically painless.
2. Conduction is a complex method of anesthetizing the branches of the trigeminal nerve.
3. Stem - in this case, anesthesia affects the entire jaw, used for severe injuries.

Non-injection methods are also different:

1. Electroanalgesia.
2. Reflexology.
3. Freezing individual areas for treatment.
4. Acupuncture.
5. The psychological method of pain relief is based on the use of music and films.

General anesthesia is used in some cases. For those who cannot overcome fear at all, doctors recommend sedatives, which are taken under the supervision of doctors before starting dental treatment.

1. It is necessary to treat teeth from childhood. Without delaying your trip to the doctor, you can avoid painful and expensive procedures.
2. Be responsible when choosing a clinic and doctor. An experienced dentist will find an approach to every patient.
3. Before treatment, talk to your doctor, tell him about your wishes and fear of pain.
4. Before visiting the dental office, check information about anesthesia methods. Choose the appropriate one after knowing the contraindications.

It's normal to be afraid of pain at the dentist. The main thing is to cope with this problem and treat your teeth regularly.

Choosing a Dentist

It is recommended to choose a clinic based on recommendations from friends and acquaintances. To establish a relationship with a doctor and see the condition of the rooms and equipment, it is not necessary to immediately treat your teeth. All you need to do is sign up for a consultation. During the examination, the doctor will tell you about the condition of teeth, cost and types of treatment, methods of pain relief.

A good dentist will not immediately insist on treatment, but will definitely tell you about the necessary procedures. If the doctor has inspired confidence, there is no need to postpone making an appointment for the next appointment. After just a few successful visits to the dentist, fear will disappear.

Psychological attitude

How to stop being afraid of the dentist and prepare yourself for a visit to the doctor? To begin with, it is recommended to prepare for psychological level. A positive attitude is the key to good and painless dental treatment.

Psychologists advise to perceive the dentist as a friend and assistant. Only he is able to relieve pain, which sometimes becomes unbearable. Before your appointment, it is better to distract yourself with calm music and read an interesting book.

What to do if you are afraid to go to the dentist alone? Ask your best friend to go with you, he will help you tune in and distract you from thoughts about fear at the right time.

To the doctor with a child

Children should be taught not to be afraid to have their teeth treated. To do this, parents need to show by their own example how not to be afraid of the dentist.

Before the first appointment, it is recommended to talk about how interesting and exciting dental treatment is. Children are never told that this can be painful or unpleasant.

If The child is afraid of the dentist; they take their favorite book or toy to the appointment. They choose a specialized clinic for dental treatment in children. It is often equipped with corners for games, a TV with cartoons and even a living corner. This will distract the kids from the situation and put them in a good mood. The doctor should be pleasant, with a calm voice and kind eyes.

Breathing techniques

A good attitude is the key to successful dental treatment. Relaxation techniques help reduce stress and normalize your heart rate. Several techniques are recommended:

1. Breathing - it can put a person in a good mood. To do this, inhale for 2 seconds, hold your breath for a while, and exhale very slowly. The result will appear after several approaches.
2. "Warmness of hands" A great exercise to overcome your fear of the dentist. To do this, keep the palms of your hands at a short distance from each other. There will be a feeling of warmth between them that you need to focus on. At the same time, they advise you to relax as much as possible.
3. You can try very effective way relaxation. It involves all parts of the body. First, we tense our feet and relax them. Moving on to the ankles and knees. Engage your hips while squeezing your hands. We draw in our stomach, exhale, straighten our shoulders. We move on to the face, wrinkling our nose and stretching our lips into a smile. This method relieves all tension, brings peace and tranquility.

How not to be afraid of the dentist and overcome your fears? All methods are good, the main thing is to choose the best one for yourself. One that will help relieve stress and make the dentist best friend. Parents are advised not to frighten children from childhood, because in the future this will affect dental health.

Today is February 9 - Happy Dentist Day to you! Do you think it's a so-so holiday? So you don't like dental clinics.

Dentistry... For many of us, at this very word, our legs give way and our hearts begin to beat wildly in our chests. No amount of persuasion or reasoning can help overcome panic fear. Even acute pain recedes before him. Only, perhaps, a threat to life can motivate some to such a feat - to cross the threshold of a dental office. Until then, they are ready to endure, swallow handfuls of painkillers and harm their health in other ways, just not to treat their damaged teeth.

Why are we so afraid of dentists, what to do about it and whether we can go into the dentist’s office with a smile on our face – says “EasyPolezno”.

Causes of dental phobia

Dentophobia (or dental phobia) is a special type of phobia that is observed in the majority of the population. Despite the fact that each person is unique in his own way, there are a number of fears that are common to everyone. These include, for example, fear of dentistry.

Fear of dental treatment can arise for a number of reasons. Most often, the patient is afraid that he will be hurt. Each person has his own pain threshold and, more importantly, a more or less developed imagination. There are known cases when a person tormented panic fear in front of the pain awaiting him (objectively speaking, quite tolerable), he drove himself into a real painful shock!

The worst thing is when the patient is convinced that dental treatment is painful from his own experience. This often happens with children: even a slight pain during the first visit to the dentist’s office can create in the child a persistent hostility towards people in white coats. Under such circumstances, fear may arise even before a simple examination.

Nowadays, there is no need to be afraid of pain: now all dentists use improved drills that create virtually no vibration during drilling and do not irritate the nerve. You can also ask your doctor to give you a painkiller. It would seem that these are obvious things, then why do we still tremble at the thought of visiting the dentist?

Stress holism

There is another opinion regarding the occurrence of fear of dentistry - the concept of stress holism. According to her, dental phobia is just a manifestation of other, deeper and hidden fears, usually associated with an unwillingness to make efforts or endure troubles. In this case, the solution must be sought in changing lifestyle and working with a psychologist.

Some psychologists express the opinion that this phobia is inherited: if parents are afraid to visit the dentist, then it is possible that children will also be afraid of such a procedure.

Fear of the dentist's chair never arises out of nowhere. For example, before visiting the dentist, a person may read about his problem on the Internet and come across heartbreaking descriptions of unpleasant, painful and simply unsuccessful treatment attempts. It is quite natural that this will not add to his self-confidence.

One way or another, dental phobia is, first of all, stress, which is difficult for the human body to tolerate. Overexcited nerves may not be affected by the usual dose of painkiller, and the doctor will either have to inject more, or the manipulations he performs will be extremely painful, which will only increase the fear of further visits to the dental office.

Dental phobia must be combated. Remember your school days: try to treat the upcoming visit to the doctor as an exam or test that you just need to survive!

How to overcome panic fear?

There are two approaches to getting rid of the fear of dentistry:

• psychological therapy;
• sedation using various medications.

In the first case, immediately before the procedure, the patient visits a psychologist. You can contact a specialist privately, or you can, if dentistry provides such services, talk to a staff psychologist. He will reassure the patient and describe in general terms the upcoming treatment procedure, trying to convince him that it is completely painless.

Often such psychologists work in pediatric dentistry. Be sure to make an appointment with him and bring your baby an hour earlier so that he can talk with a psychologist, get used to the clinic environment and calm down.

In the second case, a doctor or pharmacist will help you. Usually, some time before the procedure, the patient is given a special drug that inhibits the activity of the nervous system. After the injection, the person plunges into a state bordering on sleep, into a kind of drowsiness. His pain is reduced, his nervousness disappears, but he can continue to follow the orders of his doctor. Sometimes, instead of injections, inhalations can be used - inhaling nitrous oxide.

However, it is better to try to avoid medicinal methods– they may have side effects, especially in childhood. It is much safer - and no less effective - to use meditation, self-hypnosis, relaxation techniques, aromatherapy and other non-drug methods of dealing with stress.

To get rid of fear on your own, try to adjust yourself using the following tips:

• Tune in to the fact that in any case you will experience unpleasant sensations. Beauty requires sacrifice. It is better to wait thirty minutes than to show off missing teeth for the rest of your days or become the owner of dentures at the age of thirty or forty.
• When visiting the dentist for the first time, take with you a relative who is already familiar with the procedure and will help you calm down. If the doctor allows it, then it is advisable for this person to be in the office, close to the patient.
• If you have a toothache, do not wait for complications and go to the doctor immediately. This way you will not only save time, nerves and money, but also accustom yourself to regular dental care.
• Before your visit, notify the doctor by phone that you may run away from the procedure or not come to the next appointment due to fear. A sensitive doctor will understand your stress and do everything necessary to alleviate your suffering. If, in your opinion, the doctor is not responsive enough, it is better to look for another one.
• Don't rush into relieving stress with medications. You can get into trouble if the sedative wears off at the most inopportune moment. Do not try to calculate the duration of action of the drug yourself: it is better to contact the pharmacist at the pharmacy where you bought it.
• Ask your family and friends about the dentists they visit, and based on what they say, decide which doctor is best for you.
• Talk about the problem with someone who understands you well, who will help you calm down and find peace of mind.
• Try relaxation techniques: self-hypnosis, meditation, aromatherapy, positive affirmations. Practice in advance to understand which technique works best for you.

It is especially worth noting patients who, in principle, cannot tolerate even minimal pain or are terrified of dental procedures. In this case, general anesthesia is used for the duration of dental procedures. However, this is not a harmless procedure at all, so it is resorted to only as a last resort. General anesthesia should not be given to patients:

• suffering from diabetes mellitus;
• with heart problems;
• with bronchial asthma;
• with obesity;
• with anemia;
• with thrombocytopenia.

Work on your fears and you will definitely achieve results! And your reward will be a beautiful smile in the mirror.

Many contemporaries experience anxiety and some discomfort when staying in the dentist's office. However, people understand the importance of maintaining oral hygiene and treating dental diseases, so they regularly visit the dental clinic. There are people who ignore the need for medical examinations and go to the dentist in critical situations when toothache becomes unbearable.

Prevalence of phobia

Among the inhabitants of the planet there is a large group of people who are terrified of dentists, putting off a visit to the dentist with all their might. According to the World Health Organization, every third person has a pathological fear of the dentist to varying degrees of severity. globe. Moreover, in half of these people (over 15% of the entire world population), symptoms of fear of the dentist meet the diagnostic criteria for phobic anxiety disorder.

An illogical, uncontrollable, annoying, intense fear of dentists in medical circles has several names: dentophobia, stomatophobia, odontophobia. People of all ages with different social status, level of education and financial wealth.

What causes dentophobia: reasons

How to overcome fear of the dentist? The first step to freeing yourself from dental phobia is studying possible reasons disorders. In medical circles there is a complete understanding of the etiological causes and mechanisms of development of this disease. Doctors are convinced that this neurotic disorder is based on three “pillars”:

• genetic predisposition;
• biological changes in the functioning of the body;
• exposure to a trigger - a factor that gives rise to pathology.

How to overcome your fear of dentists? It is necessary to be careful and attentive to the mental health of people who have a family history of phobic anxiety disorders. Scientists have established a connection between the occurrence of dental phobia and the presence of mutations in the genome, while the defective gene is transmitted from ancestors to descendants on the maternal and paternal lines. Females born to women who suffered from and were treated for phobic anxiety disorders during the first trimester of pregnancy are especially at risk of developing pathological fears. At the same time, the level of threat for males whose parents experienced it is much lower.

How to overcome your fear of the dentist? Patients with dental phobia do not need to blame themselves for their inability to overcome fear on their own, since phobic anxiety disorders are often caused by malfunctions in the central nervous system. It has been established that the trigger for the development of pathological anxiety is a disturbance in the synthesis of norepinephrine. The hormone norepinephrine is involved in the implementation of “fight or flight” reactions that are triggered in a dental phobe when meeting a dentist. Increased level norepinephrine causes a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which rewards a person with unpleasant painful sensations.

Another suspected biological culprit for dentophobia is a lack of serotonin. The neurotransmitter serotonin “guides” the sensitivity of the body’s pain receptors. With a deficiency of this neurotransmitter, a person perceives pain very intensely, even weak irritation of the receptors causes severe pain.

Before overcoming your fear of the dentist, you need to understand that unfavorable heredity and biological anomalies are just the foundation for dental phobia. The presence of these factors does not necessarily precondition the development of the disorder. The start of pathological fear is given by the adverse effects of external (exogenous) factors.

The reason for the formation of dental phobia are facts from a person’s personal history: both those circumstances that he can consciously describe, and those events that remain beyond the threshold of conscious perception. Moreover, the roots of a traumatic event often go back to distant periods of the past.

The following factors contribute to the development of dental phobia:

• negative reviews from people about the results of dental treatment published in the media;
• fear of infection and contamination, fear of incurable diseases that are present in humans due to illiteracy and ignorance of the ways of spread of viruses and bacteria;
• transfer to dental workers of negative experiences of contact with other medical personnel;
• an irrational fear of being temporarily helpless, a person’s global desire to keep all current events under control;
• hostility due to the need for a stranger to touch the body.

The people who are most afraid of dentists are elderly and senile people, who have seen the times when fillings and tooth extractions were carried out using outdated equipment, without the use of anesthesia, which was accompanied by severe pain. The painful sensations experienced are firmly rooted in the subconscious, forming a protective mechanism for preventing pain - intense uncontrollable fear.

How not to be afraid of dentists? To prevent any neurotic and psychotic disorders, it is necessary that the process of personality formation proceed in favorable comfortable conditions. It is often possible to establish a connection between obsessive irrational fear and negative sensations experienced in childhood during dental treatment. Approximately half of children and adolescents who have experienced fear and severe pain while performing therapeutic activities develop signs of dental phobia in adulthood.

How not to be afraid of the dentist? Every modern person should undergo a dental examination twice a year, without delaying the issue of dental treatment. A common reason for the development of abnormal fear is the subconsciously recorded reluctance of the subject to show the dentist an oral cavity in a disrepair. This attitude is often formed after the previous incorrect behavior of doctors who behaved tactlessly and rudely when communicating with a client. At a subconscious level, a person has a need to prevent unpleasant criticism. Fear of dentists is just a tool to prevent the recurrence of uncomfortable circumstances.

How dentophobia manifests itself: clinical symptoms

How to get rid of the fear of the dentist? Contemporaries need to know the differences between the natural level of fear and pathological phobic fear. With dental phobia, carriers of the disorder experience an all-consuming panic fear of the dentist, not only when staying in a dental clinic. They are seized with paralyzing horror when anticipating a visit to the dentist, when mentioning manipulations in the oral cavity in conversations.

Fear of the dentist - . A person suffering from this disorder understands the absurdity of experiences and is critical of the overwhelming anxiety ahead, but he loses control over thinking and does not control behavior.

Persons susceptible to dental phobia prefer to heroically endure debilitating toothache. They spend self-treatment diseases of the oral cavity. Dentophobes often uncontrollably take strong painkillers, use harmful methods of therapy, and use life-threatening substances from their traditional medicine. However, they do not seek medical help even if there is a real threat to their health.

The difference between pathological fear and natural anxiety is the inability to eliminate or reduce anxiety through willpower. With natural fear, a person experiences minor anxiety, but he is open to contact with the dentist. With the right approach from a specialist, a person is distracted from worries and calms down. He does not imagine the terrible consequences of dental treatment. They do not perceive the drill as an instrument of torture.

A dental phobe, once in the dental chair and seeing the dentist, does not relax, anticipating relief from toothache. On the contrary, he tenses up, does not make contact with a specialist, and does not allow an examination of the oral cavity. Any attempts by the dentist to carry out the required manipulations end unsuccessfully. A person suffering from dental phobia, finding himself in dentistry, experiences painful vegetative symptoms of panic attacks. Some clients faint from fear as soon as they cross the threshold of the clinic.

When a client sees equipment and instruments in the hands of a doctor, he begins to “defend” himself from the dentist. The dentophobe waves his arms and legs, trying to push the doctor away. He does not open his mouth or bite the employee. Unable to reduce the strength of fear, he may get up and leave the office during medical work.

A visually noticeable symptom of advanced dentophobia is the disgusting condition of the oral cavity and complex destruction of the dentition. Untimely cured caries leads to tooth decay, gum inflammation and pathological processes in bone tissue. A person who is terrified of dentists often suffers from inflammatory diseases of the ENT organs and respiratory tract.

A consequence of untreated dental phobia is often a person’s alcoholism. A person, in order to dull toothache and minimize fear, begins to abuse alcoholic beverages. Such self-help measures lead to the development of chronic alcoholism and associated alcohol psychoses.

How to overcome dental phobia: treatment methods

How to stop being afraid of the dentist? To free yourself from obsessive fear, you need to seek help if you suspect the presence of abnormal groundless anxiety. Treatment of dental phobia will be more effective, and recovery will come faster, provided that the person does not delay a visit to a psychologist until the last minute. It must be taken into account that liberation from phobic fears is a rather long and difficult process, the success of which depends on the person’s readiness to cooperate with a specialist.

How to stop being afraid of the dentist? The first step to overcoming an irrational fear is to make an appointment with an experienced psychotherapist. The specialist will ask the patient about his experiences, determine the severity of the disorder and choose a treatment plan for dental phobia. The best results come from parallel treatment in three directions:

• the use of medications to reduce the severity of fear and stabilize the patient’s psycho-emotional state;
• the work of a psychotherapist in teaching the patient simple and effective ways establishing control over thinking and behavior;
• to discover the causes of the disorder and eliminate the subconscious program that uses fear as a defense mechanism.

Drug treatment

How not to be afraid of the dentist? The psychiatrist, after studying the medical history and assessing the general health of the client, will select medications to minimize the manifestations of fear. The basis of drug therapy consists of two groups of drugs:

• tranquilizers of benzodiazepine nature, taken in a course of up to 10 days;
• antidepressants from the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, treatment of which is carried out for at least 3 months.

Psychotherapeutic treatment

Psychotherapy for dental phobia is explanatory and educational in nature. During the meeting, the psychotherapist tells the client about the mechanisms of development of panic attacks and the probable causes of pathological fear. The patient masters the skills of relieving psycho-emotional stress, controlling breathing, and controlling behavior.

The doctor gives convincing examples of complete recovery of dentophobes. Informs about the features of dental treatment and modern methods of filling, extraction, and prosthetics. The client receives evidence that visiting the dentist’s office does not pose a risk of infection. Possession of genuine knowledge reduces the level of fear and adds optimism to a person.

Hypnosis treatment

A good effect in the treatment of dental phobia can be achieved using psychosuggestive therapy techniques - hypnosis. This method of treating phobic anxiety disorders has a number of advantages compared to other psychotherapeutic techniques:

• through hypnosis, you can penetrate the subconscious, where information about traumatic circumstances that are erased from conscious memory is stored;
• immersion in a trance during hypnosis allows you to identify the true provocateur of the obsessive fear of dentists;
• using verbal suggestion, it is possible to change a person’s interpretation of a traumatic event;
• during a hypnotic trance, the opportunity opens up to correct the way of thinking, removing harmful inspired attitudes from the life program;
• working with a person’s inner world involves directly influencing the cause of dental phobia, which ensures complete liberation of a person from obsessive fear;
• results from hypnosis

Interestingly, there is such a phobia as fear of dental treatment. Over time, fear gained serious momentum and turned into a phobia. In turn, the phobia became a disease called dentophobia. The disease is relevant today, despite the fact that dental clinics have long been equipped with modern safe equipment, and doctors use only good painkillers in treatment. A third patient in the world continues to experience pathological fear of the dental office.

This disease should not be treated with laughter. A patient with dental phobia experiences not only fear of the dentist, but also panic anxiety, which can lead to severe aggression or loss of consciousness. He gets anxious just from the thought of the dental office. A person is ready to endure unbearable pain, suppress it with strong painkillers, and self-medicate. He will refuse to visit the doctor even under the pressure of terrible threats.

It is necessary to distinguish between ordinary fear and phobia. A person understands with fear that dental treatment is a necessity and that he needs to go to the doctor. The patient with a phobia completely denies this point.

If a dental phobe does get to the doctor, he will not be able to relax even a little in the dentist’s chair. Neither persuasion, nor a pleasant atmosphere, nor the politeness and adequacy of the doctor will help him. There were cases when the patient began to react inadequately to the most ordinary actions of the doctor. Completely safe dental procedures can lead to complete loss of consciousness.

The anxiety of a person with dental phobia cannot be controlled logical explanation. He does not understand that simply refusing to visit the dentist will not make his teeth healthy. Untreated caries will develop into pulpitis, and then periodontitis will begin. And eventually, a slightly diseased tooth will have to be removed. In addition, diseased teeth are often the cause of heart disease and chronic diseases of the ENT organs. However, this information does not reach the understanding of the dental phobe.

Signs of the disease often do not appear immediately. Doctors identify several more signs of dental phobia:

• Panic anxiety.
• Severe muscle tension.
• Increased sweating.
• Headache.
• Refusing any contact with a doctor.
• The state before fainting or fainting itself.
• Disorder internal organs, which is accompanied by colic, vomiting, urination or diarrhea.
• Complete uncontrollability of movements and actions.
• Aggression with its physical manifestation.
• Pupil dilation.

Causes of dental phobia

One hundred percent cause of dental phobia before today not determined. However, there is a clear belief that fear arises against the background of ongoing changes in the central nervous system. And:

• Dentophobia appears against the background of dental trauma in childhood. Fear that was experienced in the past cannot let go of a person in the present.
• The disease seems to be inherited. Usually, if parents suffer from dental phobia, children in most cases inherit this fear from them. Emotional fear of the dentist becomes a family phobia.
• Dentophobia affects people who have always experienced attention deficit. They are usually withdrawn or, on the contrary, have increased hyperactivity.
• The disease causes stress experienced, which has acquired a chronic form or neurosis.
• Dentophobia becomes a consequence of the resurfacing of past painful manipulations in the memory.
• Stories from relatives, friends, and acquaintances about improper and unqualified treatment from dentists lead to illness.
• Fear arises against the background of a very high sensitivity threshold.
• A state of increased anxiety leads to fear of the dentist's action.
• Dentophobes suffer from frequent panic attacks.
• Negative influences on human consciousness social networks and the Internet in general, where terrible videos about dental treatment are often posted.
• A person is unable to tolerate the sight and smell of blood.
• Consequences of improper upbringing (in some families it is customary to scare children with the dentist).
• Dentophobes often suffer from a fear of any doctors, not just dentists.
• A person with bad teeth understands that he has already delayed treatment and will have to treat his entire mouth. Therefore, he is terribly afraid of this long and painful procedure.
• A dental phobe may experience a fear of contracting a foreign disease (HIV, hepatitis) through tools.
• He often experiences an absolute feeling of helplessness.
• A dentophobic person has no control over his emotional states.
• Any medical intervention causes fear.
• The presence of a disease such as vegetative-vascular dystonia.
• Fear of dental instruments, leading to gag reflex and choking anxiety.

Types of dentophobia

The disease is divided into the following types:

• Imaginary dental phobia.
• Acquired dental phobia.

People with the first type of disease have been terribly afraid of any medical procedures since childhood. The injections cause them to faint. Even such a not very painful procedure as drawing blood from a finger brings them into terrible horror. If such a person is to undergo more serious treatment, then he must be prepared for this in advance.

The second type of disease appears against the background of external causes. Often people begin to fear the dentist after terrible stories from friends. They understand that their mouth needs long and serious treatment. But the negative information they hear makes them afraid of the sound of a drill and a doctor in a white coat. Dentophobes often leave the dental clinic just before entering the office.

An acquired phobia always manifests itself as a result personal experience. The patient remembers the pain, the unpleasant manipulations of the dentist, the sound of the drill, and anesthesia. He further recalls that the filling he placed fell out very quickly and he again had to go to the dentist’s office. Bottom line: fear is constantly reinforced by new factors and emotions.

Dentophobia: diagnosis and treatment

The disease is diagnosed during a routine conversation with a doctor. Some people describe their experiences colorfully, not at all embarrassed by this fear. They focus on the negative aspects of treatment and say what they experience inside.

How to help a person with dental phobia? A doctor can do this. Already at the first appointment, after diagnosis, the dentist tries to determine the right approach to the patient. He understands that each case is individual and success in treatment largely depends on the degree of dental phobia.

Initially, the dentist tries to establish friendly contact with the patient. Then he begins to professionally, unobtrusively, logically explain how the treatment will proceed. The doctor tries to describe all stages in great detail, focusing on the painlessness of the procedure. If the patient receives the information presented to him, he will be imbued with respect for the dentist and will be able to look at the treatment procedure in a completely different light.

The patient needs to know that his personal actions and attitude are just as important at this moment. He should try to meet the doctor halfway. Patients always focus on their feelings and fears. However, these points should in no way prevent them from listening to the doctor’s advice. In this case, a confidential conversation will lead to an understanding that it is impossible to prolong dental disease. It will only get worse. In addition, the complexity of treatment leads to a significant increase in the cost of the procedure.

The doctor always informs the patient that the treatment is carried out under anesthesia, which makes the process painless. The patient will only feel the action of the dentist’s hands. In addition, today you can make an anesthesia injection completely painless. For these purposes, a special anesthetic gel is applied to the patient’s gums before the injection. As a result, the person does not feel the needle and medicine being administered to him.

Currently, many dentists use innovative anesthesia called “The Wand”. The anesthetic is administered using a special computerized device that looks like a syringe. The person does not experience pain at all, all treatment is carried out quite easily. This point also needs to be conveyed to the patient.

Treatment methods

Dentophobia can be dealt with using the following methods:

• Psychotherapeutic method.
• Medication method.

Medication method

Drug treatment consists of using special antidepressant drugs. An interesting study was conducted at psychiatric institutes in Russia, the result of which showed that dental phobia is well treated with the help of serotonin-selective antidepressants. Such drugs, for example, include cipramil. Medicine allows you to completely eliminate anxiety, due to the fact that the production and metabolism of serotonin in the head is normalized.

Long-term treatment with antidepressants is not addictive and is quite well tolerated by patients. A person begins to feel a weakening of fear after just three weeks of taking medication. For a sustainable effect, treatment will be required for at least three months.

Antidepressants are prescribed for severe phobias. In case of a mild form of the disease, it is enough to talk with the patient, give pain relief before the injection and administer modern painkillers.

For more persistent dental phobia, premedication is recommended. Its essence is to take sedatives in advance of the procedure. Such medications can be taken in various forms: tablets, injections or syrups. Premedication is permitted both several hours and several days before the intended treatment.

Psychotherapeutic method

The psychotherapeutic method helps to find out and eliminate the very causes of the disease. The main goal of treatment with a psychotherapist is to convey to the patient the information that his fear can be easily controlled, and ignoring dental treatment will certainly lead to more serious consequences.

Depending on the severity of dental phobia, treatment takes different times. The efficiency of the process is affected by the forces applied on both sides.

Psychologist's Arguments

1. Every person in the world is obliged and must visit the dentist. How many people in the world have already done this and nothing terrible, much less fatal, has happened to them. No one has ever died from dental treatment.
2. The psychologist advises using a special method called “anchoring.” A person must remember moments in life when he experienced a tremendous sense of courage, complete fearlessness, strong endurance and absolute calm. The dentophobe must anchor these feelings in his memory. While in the dental office, the patient should try to reproduce this anchored image in reality.
3. Psychologists advise treatment under sedation. This is a special method that allows the patient to completely calm down and fall into a shallow sleep. Upon completion of treatment, the person does not remember any unpleasant sensations. He clearly understands that there is nothing wrong with dental treatment. Next time, the dentist will completely trust the doctors, knowing that the treatment process is painless.
4. Dental treatment is improving every year. Science is moving in this direction by leaps and bounds. Recently, manufacturers have released modern equipment that allows for more productive and painless treatment. In addition, modern anesthetics make the process of being in the dentist’s chair completely painless.
5. There is one more point that lies in the peculiarities of the human psyche. It has been proven that even the most intense pain is erased from memory after 3 hours. If you try to recall a serious painful sensation experienced in your memory, you will not be able to do this.
6. A psychologist may recommend taking a loved one with you to the dentist. The presence of a soul mate nearby will facilitate the treatment process, having a calming effect on the person.
7. If a patient is afraid of contracting AIDS, HIV or hepatitis, then he can be recommended to undergo a special program called “Anti-AIDS”. The patient must understand that medical institutions have strict requirements for sterility. Dentistry uses only disposable instruments, which also includes drills.

In order to cope with a phobia, you need to listen to the following tips:

1. Make special demands on your dentist. The most important thing here is to eliminate the stress that will be caused by the expectation of illiterate treatment and rude attitude. A good specialist will not only perform his work efficiently, but will also provide the patient with due attention.
2. You must try to find contact with the dentist yourself. You need to explain to the doctor what you will tell him if you suddenly feel pain. The doctor will always respond to your reaction and stop the painful procedure. Of course, the patient will not feel pain, but knowing this moment will give the dental phobe more confidence. In addition, you can ask the doctor to talk about the progress of the treatment. The patient does not need to know what instrument the doctor is currently using or what medicine he is putting into the canal. However, information about the course of treatment itself will give the dentist a sense of control over the procedure and the patient will behave more calmly. After all, he understands that the treatment is moving towards the end.
3. Pay attention to the room in which the treatment will take place. There should be no sobbing children and worried mothers around him. This will greatly spoil the mood of a dental phobe. It would be nice if the hospital resembled some kind of hotel, and did not depress the patient’s condition with its white walls and strong lighting.
4. Be sure to insist on anesthesia. Minor caries can be treated without pain relief. However, the very fact of administering an analgesic will give confidence to a person with a fear of dental treatment. Local anesthesia will completely numb the part of the jaw where the diseased tooth is located. As a result, the person will not feel pain or feel the vibration of the drill.
5. If the dental clinic provides sedation, then you should agree to it. During this procedure, the patient is wearing special mask, through which oxygen and nitrogen are supplied. As a result, the treatment takes place under a feeling of complete relaxation; the dental phobe does not experience fear at all. At the same time, clarity of consciousness remains. There have been cases when patients simply forgot what happened to them during treatment.
6. If you are satisfied with the doctor, try to continue to visit only him.
7. If a dental phobia is afraid of the dentist's chair, then treatment should begin with a conversation on the couch. The doctor will definitely put you in the right mood.
8. Always remember that dental treatment is a necessity. Postponing a visit to the dentist will lead to even more nerves, pain and financial costs.

Treatment of children

Young patients very often experience fear of the doors of the dental office. It is difficult to explain to them that now the treatment procedure does not cause pain. It is good that nowadays it has become much easier to gain a positive attitude in sick children. Children can participate in the treatment process itself. How, you ask? A child today can choose the shade of the filling. The filling palette contains seven interesting shades with shimmering shine. These are gold, white, blue, light green, orange and pink. Participation in the process will give the child confidence that he is deciding something. Thus, he quickly makes friends with the medical staff. Creative fillings will leave a child with pleasant memories and reduce fear of the dentist in the future.

Dentophobia and myths

They used to say that people with dental phobia should not have dental implants. Knowing this information further increased the fear of dental phobes. They preferred to go without teeth, just to avoid going to the dentist. Today, scientists and dentists have proven that implantation of new artificial teeth is indicated for even the most difficult patients. Here you just need to competently prepare the dental phobe by conducting a psychological conversation with him. The patient will feel like a participant in the process, and not a pitiful hare in front of the teeth of a wolf. Since a person without nerves will survive the treatment, his recovery period will also be quite easy.

It has been proven that women are more afraid of dentists than men. Many people consider the drilling procedure and anesthetic injection to be the worst moment in dental treatment.

It’s good that today almost all dentists take special courses on working with overly emotional clients.

If dental phobia is not treated

Everyone understands that ignoring toothache and refusing to visit a doctor leads to very disastrous consequences.

On the health side, this is an intensification of the inflammatory process. Food chewed by diseased teeth becomes infected. Already unhealthy, it gets ingested, causing diseases of the digestive tract, disease of the endocrine glands, asthma, rheumatism and other problems. Also, ordinary caries develops into a more complex form. The result is pulpitis and periodontitis. Ultimately, the person loses the tooth. Also, treating a more complex disease requires more money.

From a psychological point of view, a person begins to experience aesthetic discomfort due to the appearance of his teeth. As a result, he begins to smile less and is embarrassed to communicate openly with people. The patient becomes closed, the people around him are less and less interested in him. Often such people begin to have problems at work and with others in general.

In conclusion, I would like to give one last piece of advice to a person with dental phobia: do not delay visiting the doctor. The main thing is to go. Talking to a specialist will help you overcome your fear. In the future, treatment will not cause so many terrible emotions.