Talk therapy can be used to help people who fear seeing the dentist. The approach is referred to as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Key takeaways:
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) helps people to acquire the necessary skills to face their fears, including fear of injections. It is a short-term treatment that involves from 6 and 10 sessions.
- People with dental phobias have been found to avoid visiting the dentist and are likely to have cavities and other dental problems.
- CBT is more effective in combating dental phobia than use of sedation since it has a long- lasting impact.
Although the training is long lasting, Milgrom said, fear can return and some may need more coaching later. The degree of fear may depend on whether the person is primarily afraid of the dentist or has other psychological problems, he said.
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http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/talk-therapy-tackle-fear-dentist/