Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 62, Issue 3, May–June 2017, Pages 165-166
Dental Abstracts

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Dental phobia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.denabs.2016.12.046Get rights and content

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Background

Dental phobia is manifest in physiological as well as psychological discomfort with dental experiences. It involves a disproportionate and sickening fear of the dental experience that leads to avoidance, which may include cancelling appointments or not making any effort to seek dental care or even perform dental hygiene. The oral health of patients with dental phobia obviously suffers from neglect. Psychotherapy is needed to address dental phobia before the patient can undergo dental therapy.

Methods

Twenty-four patients with dental phobia and 16 without it (control group) took part in the study. Saliva samples were taken when the patient entered the dental clinic and after 3 weeks of psychotherapy. The results were compared between the phobia and the control group. Patients also completed STAI and DAS questionnaires at each visit. Decayed-missing-filled tooth (DMFT) status was determined for each patient.

Results

After psychotherapy, the saliva samples showed slightly higher (but not significantly higher) cortisol levels in the phobic group compared to the control group. The salivary cortisol levels in the phobic group dropped slightly after psychotherapy. Salivary protein concentrations remained unchanged. Salivary secretion rate showed a marked increase after psychotherapy in the phobic group, nearly reaching the level of the control group. The secretion rates of the phobic group and control group

Discussion

The degree of anxiety of phobic patients was reduced by the psychotherapeutic intervention to the point that they were able to better accept dental treatment. However, phobic patients remained more anxious than control patients. The psychotherapeutic treatment increased the salivary secretion rate of the phobic patients to nearly that of the control patients and produced greater acceptance of dental care interventions and better oral health parameters. Results on the DAS and STAI questionnaires

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Naumova EA, Faber S, Lindner P, et al: Parallel study about the effects of psychotherapy on patients with dental phobia determined by anxiety scores and saliva secretion and composition. BMC Oral Health 17:32, 2017

Reprints available from WH Arnold, Dept of Biological and Material Sciences in Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke Univ, Witten, Germany; e-mail: [email protected]

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