title: Assessing and managing dental phobia in general practice: some practical suggestions.
abstract: An awareness of the predisposing dynamics of dental phobia allows members of the dental team to deal empathetically and objectively with their child and adult patients' anxieties and concerns. The use of communication skills and behavioural management techniques together with or without conscious sedation, allow the patient to slowly progress from experiencing phobic reactions toward dental treatment to a lesser form of dental anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Dental Public Health Research Group, School of Clinical Dentistry, Queen's University of Belfast.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Freeman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000698:Analgesia; D000766:Anesthesia, Dental; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003142:Communication; D016292:Procedural Sedation; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003726:Dental Assistants; D003727:Dental Auxiliaries; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017008:Negotiating; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations