It affects more than 15% of the population! As a result, many people avoid going to the dentist’s office on a regular basis, causing great damage to their mouth.
The most common cause of odontophobia is the memory of a previous traumatic experience, especially in childhood, so we must help our children to cope with a visit to the dentist. Phobia is an uncontrollable fear that prevents the patient from visiting the dentist for long periods of time, which may result in the failure to detect oral diseases by not visiting the dentist in time.
These patients usually think that the dentist is going to cause them harm or pain during the examination. However, the dentist can perform a study of the state of the patient’s mouth, prevent future diseases or treatment. In addition, many potentially painful treatments are performed under anesthesia.
Odontophobia in children
There are also patients with odontophobia who have not been to a dentist before, such as children.
The most common reason is that parents transmit this fear to their children, either because they openly tell them that they are also afraid or because, on some occasions, they use the visit to the dentist as a threat or punishment for the child.
It is important that children go to the dentist from an early age so that it becomes part of their life and normalized. Games can also be played to help them understand the importance of maintaining proper oral health, with products appropriate to their age and with their favorite characters!
From Ziving we give you tips to overcome odontophobia because it is essential to visit the dentist regularly in order to have a healthy mouth!