Why are we afraid of the dentist and how to fix it?

Fear of the dentist is a fear (a phobia for some) quite common. But why be so anxious about a while certainly unpleasant, but not insurmountable? And how to be more serene moement to be treated teeth?

The problem with fear is that it causes us to avoid dental visits. Therefore, our teeth are rotting, their potential problems are neither identified nor treated and when we finally decided to go get mater snags, care is often more painful and long ... This only reinforces the anxiety we feel about the dental office! A study by Kruger, Thompson and Poulton (1998) on 649 teenagers and found that teens anxious about the dentist would have more caries than others, their anxiety away from the cabinet.

Why are we afraid of the dentist?

So why do we fear so much the dentist? In an article for Brain & Psycho, psychology professor Gudrun Sartory evokes some answers. According to him, the famous stomatophobie often appear after an unpleasant and painful experience at the dentist. This experience may have occurred in childhood and the later fear might not have been taken into account, identified and resolved ... It would therefore remained! Sartory explains the phenomenon as a conditioning process: a single traumatic event exists, and the dentist's office, her blouse, surrounding the smell, the noise of the strawberry are then associated with this traumatic experience. So we packed: when one of the criteria of the situation recurs, we can have a fear response.

And since we carefully avoid sticking the environment we throw them, nothing can change the existing scheme in our heads, no positive experience modifies packaging.

The attitude of parents towards dental care may also have a role in our fears: for Sartory, there would be "learning by imitation" - we witness the behavior and attitudes of our parents, and we internalize them more or less.

Can we treat dental fear?

Stressed aboutt the dentist and especially to my dear mother: yes - Faye is also an example!

Hugh Mc Dougall, both dentist and psychologist, fear could be reduced by leading patients to have a positive experience when they visit. For this, each e-members of a dental office must demonstrate empathy and realize that to some patients, visiting them is a real test.

To transform this event in a time of "normal" care, it is important to listen to patients, reformulating their words so that they understand that their fears are heard and taken into account. When care, the doctor can explain and show the patient what is happening at each step, so that it is not surprised, and give him the possibility to stop the process at any time if it is not comfortable for him, that he may feel in control of what happens - and it does not feel to thank you a bloodthirsty dentist.

Gudrun Sartory also explored several options. According to the researcher, the cognitive behavioral therapy may be particularly effective in some cases. To reduce and eliminate the fear of the dentist, so we began a gradual approach: identifying with the patient what he fears and gradually, it is exposed to these factors - by imagining the situation, watching a video About this, then confronting the real situation until it no longer causes phobic reaction.

Sartory also underlines the effectiveness of other techniques, including regulation strategies of his own fear (eg use muscle relaxation, which will lead to control his own physical reaction or constructive thoughts, which will focus the patient's attention the "it's over soon" rather than "What is this thing sadistic").

Finally, the thing to remember is that the more you avoid the doctor's office, the better your condition may deteriorate and care will be painful when they will take place: by opting for this system, we do not care of our Oral Health (since we let ourselves well rot mouth) or our mental health (since we let our fears pending) ... Even that solutions exist and that we might all be able to go to the dentist, whistling !

Anyone who has a fear of dentists...

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