Normally we develop fear of the dentist by learning or conditioning, that is, an association has been generated between the stimulus and the pain resulting from the treatment. This used to be the case, basically because in the past dentistry did not look so much at patients’ perceptions or sensations (there was no competition, so the patient’s pain and discomfort was not taken into account).
In any case, in addition to this learning process, going to the dentist implies certain contextual characteristics that favor the presence of unpredictability, lack of perceived control, certain aversive stimuli and, on occasions, real pain. In other words, the patient goes to a place where:
- It smells like a dentist (unpleasant odor).
- The whole scenario reminds him/her of a clinical context
- Turbine noises are heard (drills for the patient…)
- The medical staff treats you as a pathology rather than as a person with problems or needs.
- During treatment, the dentist has complete control.
- In the dental chair the discomfort is important.
- There are treatments where pain is unavoidable…etc.
The fear of the dentist affects more adults
Children do not have the conditioning of adults, since dentistry is currently more sensitive to the variables of fear. Adults, on the other hand, have the memory of yesteryear, so they tend to have more phobias. In addition, children, due to their lack of knowledge and lack of awareness, tend to have fewer fears, although children with intense fear are more difficult to convince than adults.
In other words, adults usually present more objections than children, although children are more uncontrollable in the presence of fear.
How can we treat fear of going to the dentist?
Normally we do not speak of a real phobia of the dentist, something that would imply almost the inability to approach a dental clinic. The great majority of cases are “fear of the dentist”, something that a large part of the population presents to a lesser or greater extent (40% of the population confesses this).
In these cases of non-pathological fear, the dental specialist will be able to treat without problems simply with humanity, sensitivity, a protocol adapted to this type of patient (controlling the most aversive stimuli). Giving part of the control of the treatment to the patient and being sensitive and delicate) and a little more patience and time than in an ordinary patient who has no qualms about going to the dentist.
Practical advice on how to handle fear of going to the dentist
First of all, communicate it to the dentist. The simple fact of verbalizing the problem reduces the person’s anxiety. Let us not forget that when faced with a situation perceived as uncontrollable, unpredictable and in a new context, anxiety inevitably appears. Communicating with the dentist will help lower the defenses and provide solutions, which will reduce anxiety.
Another important factor is that the dentist is interested in managing the situation to reduce the fear, which is obvious, since if the medical team is not interested in the patient’s fear, the situation will hardly favor relaxation.
The most important thing, however, will be that the whole process of patient care includes stress-reducing elements. For example, that the patient has time and no pressure to start the treatment, that the communication between patient and medical team is direct, sensitive and honest, that the situation is normalized (fear of the dentist is the most normal thing in the world…), that the protocols control the noise of the turbines, that the patient can focus on a pleasant stimulus and that the dentist is sensitive to the patient’s needs (to go at his pace and always attend to him).