Dentophobia: The Fear of Dentists

by Beth Levine

Say the word "dentist" in a crowded room, and like magic, faces turn pale. Any dental reference
easily conjures up images of torture, and popular culture reflects this fact. "Happiness is your dentist
telling you it won't hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill," said Johnny Carson. It turned
out that 3.7 percent of the participants had full-blown dentophobia, which means a paralyzing fear of
dentists, compared to only 3.1 percent with acrophobia (fear of heights), or 2.7 percent with a
profound fear of spiders.
Phobias aren"t the same as fears, by the way, but rather, they"re the extreme version of fear
reactions. While fear doesn"t usually interfere with normal functioning, phobias do, and so they"re
classified as mental disorders. People with agoraphobia, for instance, are so afraid of crowds that
they"ll hole up in their homes, afraid to go out at all. People with snake phobia (ophidiophobia) don"t
simply scream when they see a snake and then go on with life. Instead, they might remain terrified
for hours or even days and have nightmares night after night. Likewise, those with dental phobia can
have panic attacks just thinking about getting a filling. And even when the toothache makes the
cheeks swell up, they"ll resist going to the dentist"s office. As Professor Tiril Willumsen of University
of Oslo"s Section for Paediatric Dentistry and Behavioural Science explains,
"If their phobia is extremely strong, they might find it uncomfortable doing anything with their teeth at
all. Even brushing them can be too unpleasant," she says. In fact, the bible of the mental health
industry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), includes dental phobia
in its lists of mental disorders.
Most people who fear dentists don"t have full-blown phobias, but their fear may nevertheless keep
them from scheduling appointments. The Dutch study mentioned above found that 24.3 percent of
the participants were fearful enough to delay or avoid dental appointments, and while other fears
were more prevalentfear of snakes was found among 37.4 percent of the participantsthe fact
that nearly a quarter of the population has significant dental fear is impressive. In fact, dental fear is
common enough to support a website called "Dental Fear Central," complete with a very busy forum.
According to Dental Fear Central, there are four types of dental fear: first, fear of specific stimuli. You
knowfear evoked by seeing the drill, the Novocain needle, the godawful smell. Next, distrust of
dental personnel. Then there"s generalized anxiety, which means that the entire dental endeavor
evokes fearthat you feel frightened even upon entering the waiting room. And finally, there"s fear
of catastrophe, which means that you worry about passing out, bleeding out, dying in the dental
chair and so on. The unifying factor in all these fears, though, is anxiety about pain and discomfort.
Considering the nature of the typical dental event, it"s not surprising that so many people find it
frightening. Being trapped in a chair with a stranger"s hands in your mouth, all that saliva, all that
blood (shame on you for not brushing and flossing). But those whose fear crosses over into fullblown phobia, who can"t get themselves into the chair at all, most often have suffered an unfortunate
dental event in the past. Experts estimate that up to 85 percent of dental phobias develop in reaction
to a bad experience getting previous dental treatment. And that means that in reality, a significant
amount of bad experiences must occur during dental appointments.
It would be comforting to know that in spite of the dental trepidation you might feel, getting those xrays and regular cleanings are all for the good. But what"s truly disconcerting is that, according to a
recent New York Times expose, a whole lot of the accepted dental practices aren"t proven to be
helpful or necessary at all. Among the possibly superfluous things named: annual dental x-rays, and
regular scalings and cleaningsand how many dental phobics utterly dread scalings? (By the way,

existing studies don"t necessarily support the use of flossing and interdental cleaners for long-term
retention of good teeth. Can you believe it?)
Even if it weren"t for the pain and yuckiness factor, there"s plenty to fear dentistry-wise. As we"ve
reported in the past, there"s a correlation between frequent dental x-rays and brain tumors. Those
old amalgam fillings complete with mercury can wreak havoc with your health. And root canals can
have devastating long-term health consequences. But on the other hand, you don"t want to walk
around with infections in your mouth, because unaddressed dental issues also can cause
considerable harm to your overall health.
The bottom line is that it"s important to find a dentist who has a natural health bent, who tries to
avoid toxic substances and excessive x-raying, and who understands and attends to dental fear.
Some dental offices offer videos on the ceiling to watch while undergoing procedures, give you
noise-cancelling headphones, use aromatherapy, give warm blankets, use acupuncture to relax
patients, offer biofeedback equipment to help with relaxation, and some even offer foot massages.
You might not need such hand holding, but if you do, why not find the coziest office you can find, and
in the meantime, consult the Holistic Dentistry Association website to search for someone you can
trust.