Actions and reactions: the importance of communication when managing dental anxiety

ORCID

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Anyone who has been practising dentistry for a while will understand how challenging being a healthcare professional can be. The ‘drilling and filling’ or ‘cleaning and polishing’ of teeth becomes part of the routine delivery of care, but alongside and interwoven with this ‘active treatment’ we are caring for a human being, one with emotions, aspirations and desires, all of which can and do impact the patient and the clinician. is often these complex psychological attributes that pose the most formidable challenges when attempting to care for our patients, challenging our clinical and non-clinical skills to their absolute limit. Dental anxiety is perhaps the most common of these phenomena that oral health care practitioners manage on a daily basis. According to a recent systematic review, it has been estimated that 15.3% of the global population suffers with some form of dental fear.

Publication Date

2026-09-25

Publication Title

British Dental Journal

Volume

241

Issue

6

ISSN

0007-0610

Acceptance Date

2026-09-14

Deposit Date

2026-10-05

Embargo Period

2027-03-25

First Page

371

Last Page

373

This document is currently not available here.

This item is under embargo until 25 March 2027

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