Dentophobia: What to Know If the Dentist Makes You Anxious
Key takeaways:
Dentophobia is an intense fear of going to the dentist that affects an estimated 12% of Americans.
People with dentophobia may avoid routine dental exams and other dental care. As a result, they have poor oral health.
Dentophobia can be managed with coping strategies, like deep breathing or guided imagery, medications, and exposure therapy.
Not everyone likes to go to the dentist but for people with dentophobia, it’s an intense fear. So, intense they avoid routine dental care. Research shows that dentophobia affects 12% of Americans. The results are poor oral health which can affect a person’s quality of life.
Here, we’ll review the signs of dentophobia, why people develop it, and ways to manage it.
What is dentophobia (dental phobia)?
Dentophobia is the most severe of three levels apprehension associated with dental visits. The other two are called “dental fear” and “dental anxiety.”
Dental fear: Dental fear is the fear of one aspect of dental work. You might be OK with a routine cleaning, but a shot or the drill makes your heart race.
Dental anxiety: Dental anxiety is a general feeling of unease about going to the dentist. You might feel stressed while leaning back in the chair or having people look in your mouth. You might worry about the dentist finding a problem. Dental studies call it a fear of the unknown.
Dentophobia: Dental phobia or dentophobia is an intense fear of dentists and dental work. It’s so severe that it keeps you from going to the dentist and getting routine dental care.
What are the signs of dentophobia?
Someone with dentophobia can have a range of anxiety symptoms before or during a dental appointment. They include:
Trouble sleeping
Feeling physically sick
Crying
Shortness of breath
Shaking hands or clammy palms
Pacing in the waiting room
Leg bouncing
Fainting
“Anything you would associate with the fight-or-flight response would be considered a sign of dentophobia,” says Lisa J. Heaton, PhD.
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Heaton is a clinical psychologist who has researched dental anxiety and worked with people who have dentophobia. Today, she serves as a science writer for the analytics and evaluation team for CareQuest Institute for Oral Health.
Why do people develop dentophobia?
There are many factors that could add to dentophobia. Heaton says it often starts with a bad experience.
“Someone who had to get a dental injection to get numb and thought it was really painful and scary could develop a fear of the injection specifically or of the dentist more generally,” says Heaton.
Another example is an adult who had unpleasant dental experiences as a child.
“Maybe the dental team didn’t treat them nicely or they weren’t very friendly,” says Heaton. “They may feel as if going to the dentist is not a nice place to be.”
Heaton also says hearing a dental horror story could trigger fear. Or it could be a well-meaning parent saying to their child, “I want you to be brave.” This well-intentioned phrase could make the child wonder if going to the dentist is scary.
No matter how the fear started and evolved into a phobia, dentophobia is real and terrifying for those who have it. Thankfully, it’s also manageable.
How can you overcome dentophobia?
By combining therapy, gradual exposure, coping strategies, and medications, you can manage your dental phobia.
Start therapy
Like other phobias, the first-choice treatment for dentophobia is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure.
CBT focuses on how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect each other. With this knowledge, you and your therapist will focus on managing your fear of the dentist by:
Challenging irrational thoughts that raise your fear of the dentist
Exploring how avoiding the dentist raises your anxiety and phobia
Learning new coping skills to help manage fear and anxiety
What’s more, you’ll include exposure-based treatment into your therapy. Exposure enables you to manage or overcome your dental fears as you face them bit by bit. You’ll practice with lower dentist-related fears before moving on to bigger fears.
For someone with dentophobia, Heaton says exposure treatment might follow these steps:
You visit a dental office without anything scary or difficult happening. You might have a conversation with the dentist without an exam or just sit in the waiting room.
During your next visit, the dentist might do an exam with just their fingers and no dental instruments. You would practice your coping skills, such as deep breathing, listening to music, and repeating a calming phrase.
At a later visit, the dentist does an exam with dental instruments. You continue to practice your coping skills.
On your next visit, you might get your teeth cleaned. The dental cleaning could be split into two sessions if that makes the exposure more manageable at first.
Bring coping tools
When you’re ready to visit the dentist, think about bringing comfort items from home and doing relaxation exercises:
Bring earbuds to listen to your favorite music station, audiobook, or podcast.
Cover your eyes with a sleep mask.
Use a small neck pillow spritzed with a soothing scent like lavender.
Keep your hands busy with a stress ball or fidget toy (and not on the arm rests).
Bring a blanket from home.
Use guided imagery to think about your “happy place.”
Say a calming phrase to yourself like “This is good for my health” rather than “I hate this.”
Practice deep breathing exercises.
Try medications
Talk to your dentist ahead of time about medication options to manage your anxiety. Depending on your situation or dental procedure, the following may be helpful:
Nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas,” is a mild pain and anxiety reliever.
Benzodiazepine pills — like diazepam (Valium) or lorazepam (Ativan) — can be used to lightly sedate people during dental procedures.
Intravenous (IV) or conscious sedation is a type of sedation that induces a deep sleep, which may be helpful for more intensive procedures.
The bottom line
Dentophobia affects nearly 15% of the U.S. population. An extreme fear of the dentist, it stops people from getting routine oral care and other necessary dental procedures. But, a dental phobia can be managed through CBT therapy with exposure to the dental setting. Plus, coping strategies such as breathing exercises and guided imagery, and medications if needed, can help.
Why trust our experts?
References
American Dental Association. (2021). Nitrous oxide.
Appukuttan, D. P. (2016). Strategies to manage patients with dental anxiety and dental phobia: Literature review. Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dentistry.
Avramova, N. (2022). Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact. Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences.
Beaton, L., et al. (2014). Why are people afraid of the dentist? Observations and explanations. Medical Principles and Practice: International Journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre.
Carter, A. E., et al. (2014). Pathways of fear and anxiety in dentistry: A review. World Journal of Clinical Cases.
Donaldson, M., et al. (2007). Oral sedation: A primer on anxiolysis for the adult patient. Anesthesia Progress.
Mark, A. M. (2017). Coping skills for facing dental fears. The Journal of the American Dental Association.
National Health Service. (2022). Symptoms - phobias.
Yoon, J., et al. (2016). Current trends in intravenous sedative drugs for dental procedures. Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.
For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or text HOME to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
