title: Suggestion can help.
abstract: One cannot practise dentistry without realising that for the patient, the control of pain and fear is extremely important. Modern technical advances have made painless dentistry a reality and yet research has shown that more people avoid dental treatment through fear of pain than all other factors combined. Dental surgeons and psychologists agree that patients frequently magnify their unpleasant dental experiences. There are deep-seated psychological reasons for this exaggerated fear; the mouth being a highly charged erotogenic region, is a primary zone of interaction with the environment and can have important far-reaching emotional significance. To many people the anticipation of dental treatment is sufficient to arouse extreme anxiety. Dental schools lay great emphasis on basic medical sciences and the technical excellence of students, the psychosomatic approach to the alleviation of apprehension, fear and pain is meanwhile often sadly neglected. The use of controlled suggestion and hypnosis can be shown to play a very important role in clinical dentistry.
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Benson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000628:therapy; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000628:therapy; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006992:Hypnosis, Dental; D008297:Male; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D011606:Psychosexual Development; D013404:Suggestion; D014075:Tooth Discoloration / Q000628:therapy; D014081:Tooth Extraction