The awful consequences of dental phobia
According to a new study published in the British Dental Journal, dental phobia cand damage more than just your teeth.
“This phobia can have a major impact on a person’s quality of life, including on their physiological, psychological, social and emotional well-being,” said study author Dr. Ellie Heidari, a senior specialist clinical teacher at King’s College London Dental Institute.
Heidari and her colleague, Tim Newton, analyzed responses from around 11,000 participants in the 2009 Adult Dental Health Survey. Approximately 1,400 participants admitted to having a huge fear of dentists, according to CBS.
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The study found that people who were afraid of the dentist were more likely to have at least one decaying or missing tooth. Dental phobia was also linked to a poorer quality of life. The reason for this is that although oral diseases aren’t usually life-threatening, they can affect people’s ability to eat, drink, speak and socialise.
Newton suggests that patients with dental phobia could be given a preventive care plan that they can follow at home so that their anxiety is eased. He said: “Ideally, we would want to help them overcome their dental phobia and attend the dentist, but in the interim perhaps we could be helping them to take good care of their teeth themselves.”
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