Etiology and Treatment of Dental Anxiety and Phobia

Abstract

Dental anxiety and phobia afflict millions of people. Dental patients who are anxious anticipate pain and feel vulnerable and out of control. Hypnotherapy to alleviate dental anxiety and phobias has received clinical and empirical support. Our purpose in this paper is to provide a body of objective data from American Society of Clinical Hypnosis members regarding incidence rates and the relative importance of various etiological and conceptual issues in the development and maintenance of dental anxiety and treatment interventions. From these data, we constructed a model of etiology, maintenance, and treatment of dental anxiety.