Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact

Despite technological advances in modern medical science and practice, many people still associate dental treatment with unpleasant emotional sensations and pain. According to the current literature, dental fear and anxiety are psychological barriers that negatively affect frequency of patient atten...

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Main Author: Nadya Tsetsova Avramova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-10-01
Series:Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=jmms
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author Nadya Tsetsova Avramova
author_facet Nadya Tsetsova Avramova
author_sort Nadya Tsetsova Avramova
collection DOAJ
description Despite technological advances in modern medical science and practice, many people still associate dental treatment with unpleasant emotional sensations and pain. According to the current literature, dental fear and anxiety are psychological barriers that negatively affect frequency of patient attendance which results in avoidant behavior and poorer oral health-related quality of life. This paper was therefore aimed at discussing basic theoretical aspects concerning diagnostic criteria, causes, and impacts of dental fear, anxiety, and phobia. Clarifying their differential diagnostic characteristics, clinical features and specific causes may play an important role in proper diagnosing, positive influencing, and management of this group of patients, thus providing the opportunity for increasing quality of dental healthcare services as well as improving patient’s dental health and self-perceived quality of life.
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spelling doaj-art-2f1f1cac852940c4b7dd3380a3e9d80d2025-08-20T03:48:31ZengMDPI AGJournal of Mind and Medical Sciences2392-76742022-10-019220220810.22543/2392-7674.1348Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impactNadya Tsetsova Avramova0MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOFIA, FACULTY OF DENTAL MEDICINE, DEPARTMENT OF DENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH, SOFIA, BULGARIADespite technological advances in modern medical science and practice, many people still associate dental treatment with unpleasant emotional sensations and pain. According to the current literature, dental fear and anxiety are psychological barriers that negatively affect frequency of patient attendance which results in avoidant behavior and poorer oral health-related quality of life. This paper was therefore aimed at discussing basic theoretical aspects concerning diagnostic criteria, causes, and impacts of dental fear, anxiety, and phobia. Clarifying their differential diagnostic characteristics, clinical features and specific causes may play an important role in proper diagnosing, positive influencing, and management of this group of patients, thus providing the opportunity for increasing quality of dental healthcare services as well as improving patient’s dental health and self-perceived quality of life.https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=jmmsdental fearanxietydental phobiapanic disorderagoraphobiaoral health-related quality of life
spellingShingle Nadya Tsetsova Avramova
Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences
dental fear
anxiety
dental phobia
panic disorder
agoraphobia
oral health-related quality of life
title Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
title_full Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
title_fullStr Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
title_full_unstemmed Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
title_short Dental fear, anxiety, and phobia; causes, diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
title_sort dental fear anxiety and phobia causes diagnostic criteria and the medical and social impact
topic dental fear
anxiety
dental phobia
panic disorder
agoraphobia
oral health-related quality of life
url https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=jmms
work_keys_str_mv AT nadyatsetsovaavramova dentalfearanxietyandphobiacausesdiagnosticcriteriaandthemedicalandsocialimpact