Do you know someone who is scared to go to the dentist, even for a check-up? Fear and anxiety concerning the dentist and dental treatment are both significant characteristics that contribute to avoidance of dental care. It is incredibly common and can happen to anyone, regardless of age. 

Dr Gilbert Nuwagaba, an adult and paediatric dentistry specialist, says that dental phobia,  also known as odontophobia or dentophobia, can be defined as an obsessive (abnormal) fear of dental related procedures.

This, Dr AbduKadir Mamataliev, a dentist at Deva Medical Center-Nyarutarama, adds, is a psychological condition that causes irrational fear of dentists or anything related to dentistry in general. 

He says that even mild anxiety or dislike can lead to full-blown fear.

According to Dr Mamataliev, several factors may trigger dental fear, such as seeing dental instruments (especially those that have big needles) and hearing the tools in action, such as drills. The strong scent of a dental compound, such as bleach and eugenol, can also fuel the fear since patients often link these sensory responses to previous negative dental experiences.

He says that dental fear may be traced back to several possible reasons such as past traumatic dental experiences, a history of abuse outside of dentistry, parents or guardians who are also afraid of dentists can pass that fear to their children and a lack of control or feeling helpless when visiting a dentist.

Dr Nuwagaba explains that causes are relative but usually not pleasant. This fear or nervousness is normal, however, it can be intensified by a variety of factors, for instance; age—children tend to exhibit a higher phobia as compared to adults, he adds.

Dr Nuwagaba further explains that past dental visits can also be the cause, as painful procedures performed leave one with a hard wired painful memory, hence increasing their fear of the next appointments. He points out that a friend’s experience could also raise fear. 

"Dental phobia affects oral health since one is alienated from basic oral health care inclusive of which are preventive and curative procedures, thus subjecting one’s oral health to one of the odds.

"The far-reaching effects are that with less or no oral health education, one’s quality of life is affected right from eating, and social life, including self-esteem,” he says. 

Dr Mamataliev says that when managing a patient with dental anxiety, utilisation of different measures to counter anxiety will depend on the patient’s history, age, and cooperation. In all instances, a dental care provider needs to portray behaviour that will contribute to reducing the anxiety of the patient. These include, but are not limited to, being composed and relaxed, friendly to the patient, non-judgmental, supportive and encouraging, and of course, working efficiently.

He notes that for children, allocate enough time for appointments, and communicate effectively, distract the patient from vibrating instruments, smell of medicine or other materials and other patients crying, with music or videos. 

"Give a sense of control over the procedure by involving the patient during treatment, like to raise their hands when feeling pain or uncomfortable, reduce pain by giving enough anaesthesia or offer a provision of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT),” Dr Mamataliev says.

"Specialists can also suggest to utilise computer-assisted relaxation learning (CARL), which is a self-paced treatment by patients to cope with dental anxiety (needle specific) without the presence of a therapist. Individual systematic desensitisation is where patients are gradually introduced to a fearful stimulus and learn to cope with anxiety by utilising another method such as CARL or relaxation therapy methods. For patients whose anxiety is induced by a needle, computer-controlled local anaesthesia can be used; or electronic dental anaesthesia, wherein anaesthesia is achieved based on no use of a needle. This method, though, is expensive and requires special training,” he adds.

In order to prevent dental anxiety, Dr Mamataliev urges dental professionals to educate themselves on the different options of management and prevention of dental anxiety. He calls upon dental professionals to educate the community on dental anxiety.