The Vicious Cycle of Dental Anxiety
In 2007, Australian researchers looked into the effect of dental anxiety on dental visits with the hypothesis being that the more anxiety a person exhibits about going to the dentist, the less often that person will go.
The authors of the study surveyed over 6,000 people ages 16 and older from all over Australia while accounting for age and sex. The results indicated that there is, in fact, a self-perpetuating relationship between dental anxiety and reduced number of dental visits.
Those who exhibited higher anxiety regarding dental visits tended to put off going to the dentist for regular check-ups which resulted in more emergency visits when the patient was in pain or had another oral health issue (which is referred to as symptom-driven treatment). Overall all, 29.2% of people with dental anxiety reported delaying regular dental visits, poor overall oral health, and increased likelihood of symptom-driven treatment as compared to the 11.6% of people who did the same but reported no dental anxiety.
The tendency for those to delay regular dental visits because of dental anxiety may perpetuate that fear of the dentist as putting off check-ups leads may increase the work that needs to be done at each appointment. By going regularly, patients may actually decrease the more expensive (and possibly anxiety-provoking) procedures.
Dental anxiety is a very real struggle for many people. I have blogged before on some tips to reduce dental anxiety as well as alternative therapies for dental fear.
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1784087/?tool=pmcentrez
R. Eric Emery, DDS
Morgan A. Emery, DDS
Smile Station Dental
2901 Dougherty Ferry Rd., Suite 400
St. Louis, MO 63122
(314)821-7100
smilestationdental.com
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