The management of severe dental phobia in an adolescent boy: a case report

Abstract

Dental fear is a widespread problem that represents one of the major barriers to dental care. This report describes a case study of a 12-year-old boy who presented with dental phobia characterized as 'fear of catastrophe', 'generalized dental fear' and 'fear of specific stimuli'. The referral came from his general dental practitioner who had been unable to carry out even the simplest dental procedure on him. The patient required prevention, conservation and root canal therapy. The case illustrates the use of physical strategies, including muscle relaxation and relaxation breathing; practice strategies, including graded exposure and cognitive strategies, combined with individual control methods and inhalation sedation to successfully complete the dental treatment plan.

Risk factors for severe dental anxiety among medical students

“…Our results are partially in accordance with the results of a Danish study 7 , since visiting a dentist rarely and only when there is a problem is actually avoidance of treatment. The association of avoidant behavior, poor oral hygiene and the SDA was also observed in several case reports 14 . It is interesting that the level of education of the students (year of study) was not associated with the occurrence of SDA, showing that only understanding of the problem is not helpful for relieving SDA.…”

Understanding children’s dental anxiety and psychological approaches to its reduction

“…Although there are a range of interventions available to assist the dental team, successful management of a dentally anxious child usually entails considerable additional time, effort, and expertise 7 . Over recent years, it has been increasingly recognised that greater effort should be directed towards behaviour management and psychological interventions, which can reduce the patient’s anxiety in the long term without the need for pharmacological support 26,30 .…”

“…There is emerging evidence that psychological therapies can be used to address the patient's dental fear and anxiety with reasonably good success, although the majority of studies have focused on adult patients [31][32][33] . Psychological strategies can be used to enhance trust, increase feelings of control, and develop coping skills in children with dental anxiety 30,34 .…”

Evaluation of anxiety level changes during the first three months of orthodontic treatment

“…Dental anxiety is a widespread problem that results in a significant barrier to the receipt of dental care 2. Dental anxiety was first studied by Shoben and Borland3 who explained that this avoidance behavior results from unfavorable attitudes toward dentists on the part of family members and a history of painful dental experiences.…”