Dental fears

Abstract

Fear of the dentist, isn't as uncommon as most people might think. One bad experience can create a horrific fantasy in the mind of a person who is scheduled, or should be scheduled, to see go to a dental clinic. The aim of the current study is to describe the patient's attitu de regarding several factors hidden in dental fears. Method: a survey has been performed among 218 patients who visited the Consultorio 1, Santiago, Chile. The questionnaire used included 17 items. The statistical data processing was carried out with the help of software SPSS 12. Results: analyzing the factorial composition of dental fears scale, we detected four factors. The main factor is related to bad professional praxis, while “inherent actions to the treatments” factor generate less fear. Conclusion: among dental fears, it has been possible to differentiate four aspects or dimensions that could represent answers to the title: Dental Fears. One of these dimensions, which generate less level fear, is called "treatment inherent aspects". However, the others three dimensions do provoke a certain degree of fear. Beha vioral management techniques are methods to control patient's behavior. These techniques are necessary to help modeling behaviors.