Managing dental anxiety

This article explores the management of dentally anxious adult patients and provides useful tips on identifying the causes and extent of patient anxiety and promoting attendance through modifications to the environment and appropriate dental team manner.

Despite the many advances and modifications to treatment techniques and approaches over the decades, anxiety remains a common finding in the dental setting. The Adult Dental Health Survey 2009 found that 36% of adults experience moderate dental anxiety with 12% experiencing severe levels dental anxiety¹⁰. Anxiety may be described as a feeling of worry, nervousness and unease usually associated with a premonition that something undesirable is about to happen. The aetiology of anxiety is complex and multifactorial¹ and stems from direct conditioning experiences in the dental environment, vicarious learning through role models, and personality factors².