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Dental fear

1:52

DENTAL FEAR - WVU Medicine Health Report

2:35

How to manage your fear of the dentist

1:08

7 Ways to Calm Dental Anxiety and Fear of the Dentist

1:01

Overcoming Dental Anxiety

2:35

New medications help ease dental anxiety

Dental fear, dental anxiety and dental phobia are quite often used inter-changeably. Dental fear is a normal emotional reaction to one or more specific threatening stimuli in the dental situation. However, dental anxiety is indicative of a state of apprehension that something dreadful is going to happen in relation to dental treatment, and it is usually coupled with a sense of losing control. Similarly, dental phobia denotes a severe type of dental anxiety, and is characterised by marked and persistent anxiety in relation to either clearly discernible situations or objects or to the dental setting in general. The term ‘dental fear and anxiety’ (DFA) is often used to refer to strong negative feelings associated with dental treatment among children, adolescents and adults, whether or not the criteria for a diagnosis of dental phobia are met.
  • Diagnosis 

  • Modelling 

  • Tell-Show-Do 

  • Cognitive behavioural therapy 

  • Hypnosis 

  • Systematic desensitisation 

  • Medication 

  • Premedication 

  • General anaesthesia