Psychological Intrusion – An Overlooked Aspect of Dental Fear

Abstract

Dental fear/anxiety is a widely recognised problem affecting a large proportion of the population. It can result in avoidance and/or difficulty accepting dental care. We believe that psychological intrusion may play a role in the aetiology and maintenance of dental fear for at least some individuals. In this narrative review we will take a developmental perspective in order to understand its impact across the lifespan. We will consider the nature of ‘self,’ parenting styles, the details of intrusive parenting or parental psychological control, and briefly touch upon child temperament and parental anxiety. Finally, we draw together the supporting (largely unrecognised) evidence available in the dental literature. We illustrate the paper with clinical examples and discuss possibly effective ways of addressing the problem. We conclude that psychological intrusion appears to play an important role in dental fear, for at least some individuals, and we call for detailed research into the extent and exact nature of the problem. A simple means of identifying individuals who are vulnerable to psychological intrusion would be useful for dentists.

Outcome of Chair-Side Dental Fear Treatment: Long-Term Follow-Up in Public Health Setting

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Children’s and Adolescents’ Pain, Discomfort, Fear, Cooperation, and Parental Presence During Dental Extractions

“…Parental attitudes and behavior have been suggested to either facilitate or undermine the child's cooperation and thus affect the treatment outcome [11][12][13][14]. It could be hypothesized that some dentists consider parents a hindrance, therefore not inviting them into the dental room.…”

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Dental Fear and Associated Factors among Children and Adolescents: A School-Based Study in Lithuania

“…Researchers believe that psychological factors play an important role in the aetiology of some children's dental fear and continue to affect individuals into adulthood [60]. There were not many psychological factors considered in our study, but self-esteem was one of them.…”