This patient admits that she suffers from dental anxiety and believes that it is the role of the dental practitioner to establish trust between dentist and patient, and also to inform her of what will be done prior to starting the appointment. According to her, He never prepared told me that I was going to be in the chair for eight hours at a time, never told me he was going to be grinding my teeth the whole day. This caused me great anxiety, and I said to him after the first time that he needed to explain and prepare me for what you are going to do, so that when I sit in the chair, I know how long I ll be here, I ll know what the procedure is and that would help to alleviate my anxiety. When asked how she felt about including anxiety management in dental school curriculum, her response was, It s part of patient management, and you put a lot of trust in this person to work on your teeth, and if they make a mistake, you don t have these teeth. He needs to explain to me what my treatment plan is, how long it will take, how many appointments, and how much it will cost.
Money can also be very stressful because dental treatment is so expensive.
These interviews show that personalizing and alleviating dental anxiety is beneficial for dental treatment. It is also apparent that sharpening the interpersonal skills of the dentist and dental team can prove to be a huge asset in any dental setting. In conclusion, we all can agree that patient anxiety is a hindrance when trying to achieve and maintain optimum oral health. With the statistics and information provided, education and patience prove to be our only solution for this dilemma. Our first step in achieving this goal is to incorporate patient anxiety management into the dental school s curriculum as a solid foundation for patient compliance in dental treatment.