Thinking about anxiety.
Dental anxiety is often considered to involve physiological and behavioural changes, but it also involves patients' beliefs and thoughts about treatment. This paper reviews several studies in this area, concentrating on how such thought processes may serve to maintain high levels of anxiety, even in patients who attend their dentist regularly. Some implications of these studies for the treatment of persistent anxiety are outlined.
University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.
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Kent
D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D013850:Thinking