Last Updated on February 24, 2023 by Mike Robinson

What is Odontophobia?

One of the most well-known types of specific phobias is odontophobia. It is an extreme and powerful fear of visiting the dentist. Despite the lack of information regarding the prevalence of this disorder, a recent survey revealed that it might be one of the primary causes of Spaniards’ lack of dental visits. Remember that odontophobia is when you have a phobic fear every time you visit the dentist if you want this change to make sense.

This article discusses the main characteristics of odontophobia, the disorder’s symptoms, the factors contributing to the emergence of psychopathology, and the interventions needed to treat it effectively.

 Characteristics of Odontophobia

 It’s important to remember that when we talk about odontophobia, we’re not talking about signs of high anxiety. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatry says odontophobia is an anxiety disorder. 

When people are afraid of something, they get very anxious whenever thinking about or being around the object or event.  The fear also causes the most common symptom of the disorder, which is avoiding going to the dentist. The fear and anxiety response must fit specific criteria to consider odontophobia a disorder. So, this diagnosis shouldn’t include normal feelings of nervousness or anxiety when going to the dentist.

What is a Phobic Fear?

Fear is a familiar feeling that most people have. People also often worry about going to the dentist. Most of the time, dental procedures are associated with pain and discomfort. Therefore, having trouble going to the dentist is common. No one likes having complicated procedures done on their teeth, which is why many people avoid going to the dentist.

But the fear resulting from odontophobia is different. The anxiety of odontophobia is phobic. The fear must meet the following criteria to qualify as a phobia:

Excessive Fear

When it comes to the dentist, a person with odontophobia has a disproportionate fear response to the situation. So, being nervous before a painful dental procedure can be seen as typical. 

For odontophobia to be the cause, the fear must be out of proportion and not caused by real injury or pain.

Irrational Fear

The second sign of phobic fear is much more apparent. People with odontophobia have an irrational fear of going to the dentist., which is a fact that can’t be disputed. Their fear of the dentist is not the result of logical and sensible thoughts. Even worse, a person with odontophobia can’t explain why going to the dentist makes them feel so scared.

Odontophobia’s Fear is Uncontrollable

Even though there are nerves and “normal” fears before a trip to the dentist, the person usually stays in some sort of control. The person can control their fear, so it doesn’t take over their life. With odontophobia, the person can’t eliminate their fear of the dentist. These feelings happen on their own, without the person being able to do anything about them. It happens automatically and unconsciously.

The Fear is Persistent 

People may be less likely to go to the dentist at certain times. After a painful procedure or something unpleasant, the fear may get worse. But people with odontophobia have a persistent fear. This fear doesn’t come and go. It is strong and persistent whenever the topic of or thoughts about going to the dentist arise.  This reaction of severe anxiety happens 100% of the time. 

Common Symptoms of Odontophobia

Three categories divide up the symptoms of odontophobia: physical symptoms, mental symptoms, and behavioral symptoms. These three symptoms result from the fear of going to the dentist. In this way, anxiety symptoms show up because of the person’s phobic fear. 

If the things you fear don’t happen, you don’t have to show any signs of anxiety.  So, the fear and the signs of the disease would only show up with thoughts of visits to a dentists or actual dental procedures. The condition worsens when the person needs to see the dentist more often. Therefore, odontophobia can be a disturbing disorder for people with unhealthy teeth.

Physical symptoms

The physical symptoms consist of an increase in the activity of the central nervous system. The person with odontophobia undergoes a series of changes in their bodily functions whenever they go for a dental visit.

These changes are easily associated with a state of high anxiety. Although the symptoms may vary slightly in each case, the physical signs that a person with odontophobia may experience are as follows:

Increase in the cardiac rate.

The heart beats faster and pumps more blood, which can cause palpitations that can change a person’s mood.

Increase in the respiratory rate.

At the same time, breathing usually speeds up. The person may breathe too fast and feel like they are hyper-ventilating.

Muscular tension

When someone fears the dentist, their experience a lot of tension in the large muscles in their body. 

Increase sweating.

People with odontophobia sweat more when they think about going to the dentist. There may get cold sweats all over the body.

Pupillary dilation

It is one of the hardest symptoms to notice. But when you feel scared, your body responds by making your eyes’ pupils bigger, which makes it easier to see.

Head and stomach aches

When the body is under a lot of stress, the head and the stomach are where the pain is most likely. Also, you might feel sick to your stomach, throw up, or feel dizzy.

Cognitive symptoms

When people with odontophobia have to go to the dentist, they develop thoughts about dental procedures. This is similar to how fear shows up physically. These thoughts are usually powerful, and all dentistry-related things are seen in an awful light. 

Examples include how a dental procedure can cause much damage or pain. Similar to other phobic fears, these thoughts are illogical and don’t make sense. But someone with odontophobia can’t stay away from them, and they get all their attention.

 Avoidance behavior 

Lastly, odontophobia makes a big difference in how a person acts. The main thing that people with this disorder do is try to avoid anything to do with dentists and dental treatment. 

Therefore, a person with odontophobia will always avoid being around a dentist, even when going to the dentist is very important. For example, a person with odontophobia may have difficulty going to the dentist when they have a dental problem that causes much pain. Nothing is as painful for a person with this disorder as going to the dentist. Because of this, people with physical tooth or mouth pain from not going to the dentist often still do things to avoid going. 

When a person with odontophobia can’t avoid what they’re afraid of and has to go to the dentist, escaping may be another behavior they engage in. People with this mental disorder will sometimes leave the dentist’s office before the procedure starts.

Common Causes of Fear of Dentists

The cause of this type of specific phobia has always been linked to how people learn and grow to be afraid of dentists. The idea that odontophobia can be present in different ways is still valid. 

But genetic symptoms are not the most important thing. The three things most closely linked to the disorder are all related to how fear is taught and learned. These things:

Classical conditioning

First, classical conditioning is the most feasible way to develop a fear of the dentist. That is, they have had direct experiences with going to the dentist. 

Having had traumatic experiences at the dentist, such as painful procedures or problems that were not corrected, can be a critical factor in where the disorder originates. But not everyone with this type of psychopathology has had bad things happen to them in the past.

Vicar conditioning

On the other hand, visualizing unpleasant images and interpreting them as traumatic in relation to visits with the dentist can also condition a phobic fear of dental procedures.

Images of significantly damaged teeth or situations of people experiencing pain during the dentist’s procedure would be some examples.

Verbal conditioning

Lastly, hearing bad things about the dentist from someone else can also lead to odontophobia. Some examples would be relatives who are afraid of the dentist and talk about their worries and fears. They may describe traumatic stories about their worst experiences with dentists.

Best Treatment Options

Psychotherapy

The best way to treat odontophobia is, without a doubt, psychotherapy. We can get over phobias and fix psychopathology using different psychological techniques. Treatments that are based on exposure work the best. That is, by exposing the person with odontophobia to things like visiting the dentist, seeing pictures of dental treatments, etc.

Also read: Neophobia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

The person can get used to the things they are afraid of by being safely exposed to them.

Relaxation techniques also ease anxiety and make the process go more smoothly.