Dentaphobia is a term meaning fear of the dentist. It is also known as dental anxiety or dental anxiety by the society.
It is important because it delays the treatment of dental health problems and is a difficult situation for dentists. For this reason, a lot has been done on the subject of dentaphobia.
Who Sees It?
Dentaphobia is seen in every age, every gender, every education level, every economic level, every society and every culture.
-Although dentaphobia can be seen at any age, according to studies on this subject, it is seen at the highest rate in children between the ages of 4-6. It has been reported that the likelihood of experiencing dentaphobia decreases as age increases. Reasons for this include increasing social interactions as age increases, having more knowledge about health, and having experiences with some health procedures.
-Studies show that dentaphobia is more common in women than in men. revealed that it was seen. The fact that women are more sensitive to pain than men may explain this. However, it should not be forgotten that everyone's pain threshold is different.
-It has been found that the incidence of dentaphobia decreases as education and income levels increase. An increase in income level is generally accompanied by an increase in education level. This allows people to increase their knowledge and increase their ability to cope with fear.
-Dentaphobia is seen in all societies and cultures, whether developed or undeveloped. One of the reasons for this is related to societies' child raising and education. In many societies, fear is used as a tool in child education. Dentists are one of these tools of fear. Even if the child has not seen the dentist, he/she begins to fear a person he/she has not seen and a dental procedure due to the suggestion of his/her elders. During the time he does not encounter the dentist, this fear is as if it is asleep and does not show itself. The child who encounters the object of fear in the real world matches the scary dentist in his mind with the real dentist. He transfers the fear in his mind to the real dentist.
If this fear is not addressed, it will be reinforced. To prevent this, systematic desensitization, cognitive retraining It is useful to apply techniques such as structuring and exposure. (Support should only be sought from clinical psychologists on this matter)
Hope to see the days when you go to the dentist without fear when you need it :)
Read: 0
