Odontophobia Does Not Need to Be an Issue


There are very few people that look forward to visiting their dentist. Yet, most of them will still go to their dentist in order to keep up their oral hygiene. While on the other hand, some patients might do anything to avoid their appointments. These people have a complete fear of dental visits. This is called odontophobia, which is bad news for your overall health.

Skipping out on your dentist appointments or avoiding dentists altogether may cause poor dental health. This can lead to bigger issues health wise such as heart disease, atherosclerosis and cancer.

These conditions will definitely be worse than keeping your dentist appointment. It is absolutely necessary to go for your dental visits. One has to be able to achieve clean teeth and oral health, odontophobia shouldn’t deter you from attaining it.

A phobia is almost a debilitating anxiety disorder; it causes many people to go to any lengths to avoid whatever they fear most.

Dental anxiety is quite common among many patients and as long as the dentist just tries to keep the patient relaxed and comfortable during the treatment, it should all go well. Whether its pain they fear, or fear instilled by a bad experience they had in the past, it can be overcome.

Look at the following to show you how to cope as regular dental visits are essential.

Understand dental anxiety/odontophobia

This may affect many patients, some patients will feel a little nervous before a filling or a tooth extraction, but those that experience dental anxiety, will be much more than just nervous.

For those only the thought of visiting the dentist, for whatever reason, will be terrified and it could lead to stress and avoid these visits.

The cause of dental anxiety

There are a variety of different reasons why a patient that suffer from dental anxiety might be fearful.

The most common causes noted are as follow:

Because of a negative experience that they had in the past

A feeling of utter helplessness

The lack of personal space

Injections, as well as pain

When you live in terrible fear of going to your dentist, one usually neglects oral hygiene. Along with flossing and brushing practiced at home, you need regular cleanings and checkups from a dentist. These are crucial to prevent gum disease and tooth decay.

In short, the longer you avoid dentist visits, the more serious issues will arise. These will need to be corrected at a later stage.

Sedation dentistry and coping with your dental anxiety

In order to help a patient to cope with dental anxiety, a viable solution namely sedation dentistry may be best. This can be done through the use of nitrous oxide or laughing gas, intravenous (IV) sedation, or a pill.

Sedation dentistry will help the patient to remain comfortable and calm throughout the treatment. It will not only keep you very relaxed, but it also will allow your dentist to achieve more in a much shorter time period.

This will mean much fewer visits to your dentist. Additionally, it will also eliminate most of the pain that comes with the treatment. Simply put, sedation dentistry might be your answer if you suffer from odontophobia.


Quality dental care will also help you to lose your dental fear

Although dental anxiety is a very common issue, it will be essential to find a way for you to cope with your fear. Skipping dental visits can only cause more damage to your oral health and teeth and you may end up with additional visits to your dentist that could have been avoided.

To go for sedation dentistry is all good and well, but it basically only helps you to relax and feel comfortable for a short period of time. It will not heal your odontophobia and that is what you would prefer. Are you have this phobia talk to your dentist and consider seeing a provisional to work through your fear.


To visit a dentist from a young age can be beneficial as you will start to get use to the dentist office and all the procedures. Make sure that you become friends with your dentist and build up a trust in him/her. If all fails and you have more phobias then only for dentistry, you will need to seek more professional help to deal with your phobias.