What is it?
Oral health is a fundamental component of our health, including our physical and mental well-being, but what happens when patients are too scared to see the dentist? This fear is seen a lot as some people associate dentists with needles and pain. Nobody I know likes going to the dentist and the first time I went, I was terrified. According to a survey conducted in 2012, “5.5% of respondents reported being ‘very afraid or terrified’ of dental visits, and a further 9.8% were ‘somewhat afraid.’” This common phenomenon is called dental anxiety and if you notice a pattern with certain patients cancelling or missing appointments, they might just be suffering from it; this is the case with almost fifty percent of patients with high dental anxiety. I suffer a mild case of dental anxiety and find that before I go in for an appointment, I’ll shake and feel sick to my stomach. Some other physiological symptoms are dry mouth, heavy perspiring, hyperventilation, nausea, pallor, and even fainting. The anxiety can be so bad that even just thinking about going to the dentist can prompt these symptoms. Dental anxiety is rooted in fear– fear of pain, fear of embarrassment, and fear of the unknown.
What are the causes?
Dental anxiety can be caused by having a negative dental experience. If a treatment caused a significant amount of pain or tended to take a long time, that experience can deter a patient from going back. In fact, patients having suffered a negative dental experience are twenty-two times more likely to have dental anxiety. Another cause to consider is a patient’s feeling of complete helplessness and lack of control during dental treatment. The terror these patients are feeling is very real and should not be dismissed or minimized. Because of this terror, patients will avoid the dentist. They can also be irritable and uncooperative which can then lead to increased anxiety in the entire office.
What are some solutions?
The first step is to gain information from your patients and their feelings about you and the situation. Sit down and discuss those fears in a genuine and empathetic tone. Most patients will open up if they know you’re being sincere. You can even provide a short dental fear question, one question asking: Last time you visited your dentist, how did it go?
Milgrom’s single-item scale will be provided at the end of this post. This scale uses a five-item self-response to rate the dental anxiety in your patients without taking up too much of yours or the patient’s time.
Other solutions include praising the patient often for challenging their own anxiety and can also develop trust between them and you. But remember to avoid phony platitudes. Instead, normalize the patient’s anxiety by letting the patient know that many other patients share the same fears. In this way, you are being supportive and genuine without being dismissive.
Establishing positive communication strategies will also help with dental anxiety such as using positive sentence structure, avoiding words like “hurt”, “shot”, or “needle.” It is also important for you to utilize clear, honest and straightforward communication.
Changing the office environment can also encourage a more relaxing visit for the patient, including offering to change the room temperature, providing a blanket, and asking if there’s anything else you or your team can do to make their visit more comfortable. Giving the patient more control over their environment may help reduce their anxiety as can certain distraction techniques such as music or movies. Being overwhelmed by treatments can prompt an anxious patient to bail. When I went to the dentist for the first time and was told all the treatments I would have to have done, I panicked on the inside. Too much too soon is more likely to deter patients from going back, but taking it one treatment at a time can lift that mental anxiety.
- I was totally relaxed during the treatment
- I was nervous but, nevertheless, the treatment was carried out successfully.
- I was nervous; the treatment could only just be carried out.
- Treatment was difficult
- The treatment didn’t succeed
- I totally missed my appointment
- http://www.oralhealthgroup.com/features/practical-considerations-for-treating-the-anxious-dental-patient/
- http://cda-adc.ca/jcda/vol-73/issue-8/711.pdf
- http://blog.dentalspots.com/2015/06/tips-dental-professionals-can-use-to-deal-with-dental-anxiety/
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