Clinical outcome of a short-term psychotherapeutic intervention for the treatment of dental phobia.
OBJECTIVE
Anxiety before receiving dental treatment is widespread. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of a brief psychologic treatment on adherence to the dental treatment regimen in patients with dental phobia.


METHODS
Dental phobic patients (n = 160) received 3 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy that consisted of stress management training and exposure to phobic stimuli. The outcome was determined in terms of 3 subsequent dental visits.


RESULTS
Participating patients had not visited a dental clinician for an average of 6 years. Comparison of patients who completed the psychologic treatment with those who dropped out showed that 68% of the former but also 52% of the latter adhered to the subsequent dental treatment regimen. The number of psychologic treatment sessions correlated significantly and positively with anxiety level before treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Short-term psychologic therapy of 3 sessions results in a success rate of 70% to adherence to dental treatment among dental phobic patients. Duration of avoidance of anxiety before treatment was not related to success in completing the trial. Nevertheless, the more intense the patient's phobia, the more psychotherapeutic sessions were necessary.
Jöhren
Peter
P
Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dental Medicine, University of Witten/Herdecke, Bochum, Germany. hp.joehren@t-online.de
Enkling
Norbert
N
Heinen
Richard
R
Sartory
Gudrun
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric