Population studies show that individuals with dental anxiety have difficulties to attend to a dentist [19]. Dental anxiety has also been reported to impact on individuals' daily living including modification of eating habits, such as avoidance of hard to chew and foods that cause sensitivity.
It has also been shown that the higher the level of a person's dental anxiety, the longer is the avoidance period, leading to a higher risk of decay and dental problems, inevitably leading to overall worsening oral health.
Being scared to visit the dentist can result in delaying or avoiding dental treatment. Things like needles, drills or the dental setting in general can trigger dental anxiety. When dental anxiety is severe and causes irrational fear and avoiding going to the dentist, it can be classified as a dental phobia.
Fear of dental treatment is described in both ICD-10 classification and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV, in specific (isolated) phobias, a subgroup of anxiety disorders [9, 10].
Your dentist may prescribe anti-anxiety drugs, such as diazepam (Valium), that you can take one hour before a scheduled dental visit. Your dentist may also recommend conscious sedation, such as nitrous oxide (or “laughing gas”), which can help calm nerves.
The most commonly prescribed dental related drugs that treat anxiety belong to the “benzodiazepine” family. Drugs such as Valium, Halcion, Xanax, or Ativan. These drugs decrease anxiety by binding and toning down activity within “fear” receptors in the brain.
During routine dental examinations and cleanings, dentists can detect oral symptoms of stress, including orofacial pain, bruxism, temporomandibular disorders (TMJ), mouth sores and gum disease. If you're feeling tense or anxious, you should keep a watchful eye for signs of the following stress-related disorders.
Nervous tension, anger and frustration can cause people to clench and grind their teeth without even realizing it. Therefore, it is important for you to keep an eye out for the following signs: tips of the teeth appearing flat, tooth enamel that is rubbed off causing extreme sensitivity, and tongue indentations.
How common are dentophobia and dental fear? About 36% of people in the U.S. have a fear of dental treatment, with 12% having an extreme fear. About 3% of adults in industrialized countries may have dentophobia and avoid going to the dentist at all. Fear of dentists is more common in females than in males.
When you haven't been to the dentist in years, there's a chance you'll need additional dental work like fillings or periodontal treatment. Check to see what your policy covers so you'll be prepared for any additional expenses. Dental insurance networks change periodically too.
Dental fear is defined as a negative reaction to specific threatening stimuli associated with dental treatment, whereas dental anxiety is an excessive or impairing negative emotional state experienced by dental patients [1,2].
Because of the way chronic stress impairs your immune system, it can lead to chronically inflamed gums, which leads to gum disease. The damage to your gums that chronic stress causes can loosen up the foundations holding your teeth in place, damage the supporting bone, and result in tooth loss.
Greater risk for dental decay and tooth loss can lead to more frequent pain experience, social isolation, and low self-esteem, and reducing quality of life and in turn possibly being associated with poorer mental and overall health [9].
Pain. Far and away the number one factor in dental phobia, pain provides a two-fold problem for patients afraid of visiting the dentist. On one hand, any past painful experience is seared in the memory – and unlikely to go away anytime soon.
Many people fear the dentist due to common misconceptions. Many people imagine specific dental procedures, such as root canals or extractions, as being very painful. While this may have been true many years ago, new technology and anesthesia can make your trips to the dentist painless and even comfortable.
Women are more than twice as likely as men to get an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Anxiety disorders are often treated with counseling, medicine, or a combination of both. Some women also find that yoga or meditation helps with anxiety disorders.
Root canals are considered to be the most painful because they require removing the nerve tissue on a tooth's root. The removal of the nerve tissue is not only excruciatingly painful but also commonly leads to infection.
Experts estimate that roughly three-quarters of patients experience some level of fear or anxiety before and during their dental appointments.
Yes, in some cases. General anesthesia in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center may be necessary when treating young children, adults with special needs or people with severe dental anxiety. General anesthesia is a type of unconscious sedation. In other words, you'll be completely unconscious during the procedure.
'” Usually, dental patients in pain or the throes of anxiety will close their eyes. That's not a problem, dentists say, unless they're tensing up the rest of their faces, too.
It is used effectively in patients with dental anxiety [4]. As it has strong lipid solubility, it is rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and the highest plasma concentration is reached after 1–2 h [6]. Typically, the dosage of diazepam for anxiolytic effects in adults is 5–10 mg.
You have been given two medications to take prior to your appointment. The first prescription is for Diazepam. You are to take one tablet (5mg total) thirty minutes before bedtime the night prior to appointment. This will help you get a restful night's sleep.