VRET

Dental Anxiety

For some people, the fear of dental treatment is so great it can be diagnosed as a phobia. This is common and currently affects 7.1 million adults (11%) of the UK population. These individuals experience severe phobic reactions (e.g. panic attacks) when faced with dental-related situations. People with dental phobia are known to have more tooth decay, in addition to wider impacts to their health, psychological wellbeing and quality of life.

Managing Dental Anxiety

CBT

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps people overcome their phobias. CBT is a well-recognised therapy for dental phobia and is recommended by the UK National

Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

CBT was successful in 85% of people; taking on average 5 CBT sessions before patients are able to have dental treatment successfully.

Exposure Therapy

Part of CBT is to expose the person to their fear in a very gradual way, starting from a place they feel

safe. As the person gets used to the situation, they do not react in the same way and the anxiety

reaction subsides. This exposure-based therapy uses lots of resources, including "real-life" exposure

with access to dental room and staff, as well as using photos/videos/sounds for "homework" to

continue daily exposure at home.

News

Publication in SAAD Journal

Sep 17, 2017

SAAD approve small reasearch grant

Dec 12, 2017