title: An evaluation of the iatrosedative process for treating dental fear.
abstract: The iatrosedative process is an interpersonal-cognitive technique by which fearful patients are calmed by the behavior, attitude, and communicative stance of the dentist. The process consists of an iatrosedative interview and a clinical encounter. In our study, 58 fearful dental patients were assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups. The Corah Dental Anxiety Scale was administered at admission to the clinic, immediately after the iatrosedative interview or standard interview, and again after the first and second clinical encounters. Participants who received the iatrosedative interview had a significantly greater reduction in dental anxiety after the interview than those who received the standard interview. After the two clinical encounters, however, the difference in anxiety reduction between the two groups was not significant. In addition, there was no significant difference in anxiety reduction between iatrosedative participants who had the same dentist for both the interview and the clinical encounter and participants who had different dentists for each part of the study. It is concluded that an iatrosedative interview is more effective than a standard dental interview in decreasing anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Medicine and Public Health School of Dentistry, USA.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome