Fear of Visiting the Dentists


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While many dental phobias step from specific underlying causes, some can be non-specific. A patients fear can be especially terrifying when they don't know why they are afraid. This type of phobia is all the more difficult for the dentist as it is hard to reassure and calm a patient who cannot articulate what is about dentistry that makes them afraid. 

Where can a non-specific phobia come from?

If a patient is unable to express what it is that specifically bothers them about visiting the dentist, then it becomes extremely difficult to deal with their phobias. A non-specific phobia can have roots in any number of causes of which the patient may not be aware, and these can stem from past experiences, rumour and here say, or something that did not originally involve dentistry but that had, somehow, spread to include it.


A non-specific fear like this can often be misunderstood by the sufferer who might not realise that their phobia is of dentistry. They will often attribute their reluctance to visit a dentist to cost, time, or any one of a host of different reasons that don’t fully explain the situation.

Presentation of a non-specific fear of visiting the dentist

Perhaps the most common symptom of this kind of phobia is a long standing unwillingness to visit the dentist with no real reason behind it. This will manifest itself as discomfort or agitation on the part of the sufferer who, when confronted with the need to visit a dentist, will become increasingly stressed without understanding why. This feeds directly into a vicious circle, if you are unaware of why you are becoming anxious and upset, you only become more so.

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