2. INTRODUCTION
• phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, defined as an
irrational persistent fear of an object or situation.
• typically disproportional to the actual danger
posed.
• Example: 1- who has a fear of mice but lives in
an area devoid of mice. Even though the concept
of mice causes marked distress.
• 2- riding an elevator anxiety increases at the
midway point between floors and decreases when
the floor is reached and the doors open.
3. INTRODUCTION
• Also Phobia can be defined as: An
unreasonable sort of fear that can cause
avoidance and panic.
• Are a relatively common type
of anxiety disorder.
• Phobias can be treated with cognitive
behavioral therapy, using exposure and fear-
reduction techniques, anti anxiety or
antidepressant medication proves helpful,
especially during the early stages of therapy.
4. Classification
• 1. Specific phobias: Fear of particular objects,
results in anxiety and lead to panic attacks.
Specific phobia subdivided into five categories:
animal type, natural environment type, situational
type, blood-injection-injury type.
• such as arachnophobia (spider phobia)
or acrophobia (phobia of heights).
5. Classification
• 2. social phobias: (Social anxiety disorder (SAD))
are phobias within social situations, such as public
speaking and crowded areas. impaired ability to
function in some parts of daily life. may overlap with
many other phobias.
• Symptoms: include excessive blushing, excess
sweating, trembling, palpitations and nausea. Stamm
ering may be present, along with rapid speech.
• Panic attacks can also occur under intense fear and
discomfort.
• ptns may use alcohol or other drugs to reduce fears .
6. Cause
• Rachman proposed three pathways;
1. classical conditioning( Pavlovian): an aversive
stimulus and a neural one are paired together. Ex;
fear of heights (acrophobia) ptn stand on balcony
on the top floors of a high rise building
(conditional stimulus CS) and he almost falling
down from a great height (aversive
unconditioned stimulus UCS) this leads to the
fear of height (conditional response(CR) fear).
7. Cause
2. Vicarious fear acquisition: learning to fear
something, not his own experience of fear. Ex;
child sees a parent reacting fearfully to an
animal, the child can become afraid of the animal
as well.
3. Informational/instructional acquisition.
8. List of phobea
• Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing.
Acarophobia- Fear of itching or of the insects that cause itching.
Acerophobia- Fear of sourness.
Achluophobia- Fear of darkness.
Acousticophobia- Fear of noise.
Acrophobia- Fear of heights.
Aerophobia- Fear of drafts, air swallowing, or airbourne noxious
substances.
Aeroacrophobia- Fear of open high places.
Aeronausiphobia- Fear of vomiting secondary to airsickness.
Agateophobia- Fear of insanity.
9. List of phobea
• Agliophobia- Fear of pain.
Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public
places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place.
Agraphobia- Fear of sexual abuse.
Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes.
Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria.
Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets.
Bolshephobia- Fear of Bolsheviks.
Barophobia- Fear of gravity.
10. List of phobea
• Basophobia or Basiphobia- Inability to stand. Fear of walking or
falling.
Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Bathophobia- Fear of depth.
Cacophobia- Fear of ugliness.
Cainophobia or Cainotophobia- Fear of newness, novelty.
Caligynephobia- Fear of beautiful women.
Cancerophobia or Carcinophobia- Fear of cancer.
Cardiophobia- Fear of the heart.
Carnophobia- Fear of meat.
Catagelophobia- Fear of being ridiculed.
11. List of phobea
• Catapedaphobia- Fear of jumping from high and low places.
Cathisophobia- Fear of sitting.
Catoptrophobia- Fear of mirrors.
• Decidophobia- Fear of making decisions.
Defecaloesiophobia- Fear of painful bowels movements.
Deipnophobia- Fear of dining or dinner conversations.
Dementophobia- Fear of insanity.
Demonophobia or Daemonophobia- Fear of demons.
Demophobia- Fear of crowds. (Agoraphobia)
• Dentophobia, or dental fear in the literature
12. Dental management
• Dental anxiety is a common phenomenon. 5.5% of
respondents reported being “very afraid or terrified”
of dental visits.
• dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia: Fear from
a real, specific stimulus (i.e. needle).
• Causes:
1. classical conditioning.
2. Vicarious fear acquisition.
3. Informational/instructional acquisition.
13. Dental management
• RECOGNIZING ANXIETY USING DENTAL FEAR
INSTRUMENTS
– Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS); four-item
questionnaire about different dental situations.
Each question is scored from 1 (not anxious) to 5
(extremely anxious).
– Dental Fear Survey is another questionnaire,
utilizing 20-items.
14. Dental management
• Klingberg et al (2007) reported that children and
adolescents were expected to experience mild fear
and anxiety. This fear and anxiety only becomes a
concern if it is “disproportionate to the actual threat.
• Research demonstrates that the dental fear of a child
who is 8 years or younger is significantly related to
the dental fear of the parent.
• It was noted that girls presented as more anxious and
harder to manage than boys.
15. MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
FOR DENTAL FEAR
1. Pre-treatment anxiety questionnaires: (to
assess patient anxiety before treatment).
2. Individual systematic desensitization and
group therapy(ISD):individuals are gradually
exposed or incrementally exposed to fearful
stimuli. In this process, the individual must
first identify and accept the fear-related
stimulus; second, the individual must learn to
employ a relaxation.
16. MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
FOR DENTAL FEAR
3. Flooding/implosion: a form of desensitization for
treating phobias when the patient has a directly
conditioned origin of fear.
• patient subjected to repeated exposure of fear-inducing
stimuli until they no longer show a fear response,
causing termination of the CR.
4. Cognitive behavioral therapy: a
psychotherapeutic approach to address
dysfunctional emotions and negative behaviors and
cognitions using a series of goaloriented sessions.
17. MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
FOR DENTAL FEAR
5. Relaxation therapy: mental relaxation
technique (e.g., slow breathing, counting,
relaxation swallowing) to reduce stress. ten
Berge et al (2001).
6. Computer-assisted relaxation learning: A
recent development (CARL). program begins
by introducing its purpose, followed by
activities and videos on how to cope with their
fear.
18. MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
FOR DENTAL FEAR
7. Pharmacological: use of nitrous oxide (NO)
and benzodiazepines.
• Willumsen et al(2001) reported no significant
differences between NO and CBT or applied
relaxation therapy.
19. CONCLUSION
• Understanding, the origin of a patient’s fears
and anxiety could help enhance patient
management and care.
• however, a lack of knowledge of the effects of
demographics, causal factors, ethnicity, and
treatment modalities relative to the origin and
pathways of fear in dentistry.
