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Adult dental anxiety: recent assessment approaches and psychological management in a dental practice setting Gerry Humphris James Spyt Alice G Herbison Thomas W Kelsey Dental Update 2024 43:4, 707-709.
Dental anxiety of patients is a common feature of the everyday experience of dental practice. This article advocates the use of regular assessment of this psychological construct to assist in patient management. Various tools, such as the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), are available to monitor dental anxiety that are quick to complete and easy to interpret. Patient burden is low. A new mobile phone assessment system (DENTANX) is being developed for distribution. This application and other psychological interventions are being investigated to assist patients to receive dental care routinely.
CPD/Clinical Relevance: This article provides evidence and expert opinion on the worth of regular dental anxiety assessment in dental practice using structured tools, such as the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, and consideration of psychological intervention development.
Article
Dental anxiety is one of the most pertinent psychological phenomena that dentists will meet on a daily basis in their practice setting.1 So familiar is this experience for patients and practice staff that the issue has become simply part of the clinical environment.2 It is something of a surprise to the authors that more emphasis is not placed on the management of dentally anxious patients in both undergraduate and postgraduate dental courses, although new training methods are being developed.3 There are, of course, training events on conscious sedation or intravenous sedation to manage the highly dentally anxious patient. These require ancillary facilities and staff, that are not only expensive but may not be able to assist patients in understanding how to cope with their anxiety in the longer term, other than with pharmacological support.
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