A single trip to the dentist as a child left Cheryl Hart traumatised for more than 50 years.
She had an impacted wisdom tooth extracted when she was 10 years old, a procedure that took about 90 minutes and involved numerous needles.
“I can still remember the experience. I had a fair bit of anxiety going back to the dentist,” the Brisbane woman recalled.
Further “extremely painful” appointments as a young adult, involving a root canal and tooth extraction, led to her stopping visits to the orthodontist.
“My husband used to make appointments and I’d ring up and cancel them,” she said.
Dental anxiety is a common experience, according to Dr Ratilal Lalloo from University of Queensland’s School of Dentistry.
But as panic worsens and people avoid appointments, the complexity of care and the cost of treatment can often increase.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” Dr Lalloo said.
He said good dental health is “critical” for a good quality of life into old age.
Tackling dental anxiety
Brisbane dentist Ian Davies said a lot of dentistry trauma stemmed from early childhood experiences or a “transferred fear” from a family member.
He said the triggers “become part of their subconscious and stick with them right through the course of their lives”.
Dr Davies has co-developed a therapy tool with Regina Rowlison aimed at targeting dental anxiety, which involves asking patients to watch a short self-empowerment video for 90 days.
He partnered with Dr Lalloo on a pilot study to test its effectiveness.
In the initial trial — which only involved nine participants — they were asked questions and measured on a dental anxiety scale, ranging from one to five.
“When you look at the dental anxiety scale, anyone with a score of 2.5 or above is considered to have a significant level of dental anxiety,” Dr Davies said.
He said at the start of the trial, participants had an average dental anxiety score of 4.1 out of 5. At the end of the 90 days, this fell to an average score of 1.7.
Dr Davies said the “physical reaction” of participants was also “very different”.
“They said all that pre-appointment dread and concern disappeared after they used the intervention,” he said.
Australian Psychological Society president Dr Catriona Davis McCabe said from a psychological perspective, cognitive behavioural therapy was the most effective and evidence-based treatment for dental anxiety.
She said that includes relaxation techniques, gradual exposure to dental procedures, and positive reinforcements for the patients.
Dr Davis McCabe said digital support tools can support people with mild levels of anxiety, but for more complex mental health issues she recommends people access psychological therapy.
“I think that digital health tools should always be seen as an addition to psychological therapy,” she said.
After taking part in the study, Ms Hart said she had stopped cancelling appointments and her heart rate has remained low while in the dentist chair.
She said she felt it was important to tackle her phobia.
“Going forward into your older years, you really need good teeth — and you really need to look after them,” she said.
Posted , updated
