dental fear dental fear dental fear, or dentophobia, is a normal emotional reaction to one or more specific threatening stimuli in the dental situation. however, dental anxiety is indicative of a state of apprehension that something dreadful is going to happen in relation to dental treatment, and it is usually coupled with a sense of losing control. similarly, dental phobia denotes a severe type of dental anxiety, and is characterised by marked and persistent anxiety in relation to either clearly discernible situations or objects (e.g. drilling, local anaesthetic injections) or to the dental setting in general. the term ‘dental fear and anxiety’ (dfa) is often used to refer to strong negative feelings associated with dental treatment among children, adolescents and adults, whether or not the criteria for a diagnosis of dental phobia are met. dental phobia can include fear of dental procedures, dental environment or setting, fear of dental instruments or fear of the dentist as a person. people with dental phobia often avoid the dentist and neglect oral health, which may lead to painful dental problems and ultimately force a visit to the dentist. the emergency nature of this appointment may serve to worsen the phobia. this phenomenon may also be called the cycle of dental fear. dental anxiety typically starts in childhood. there is the potential for this to place strains on relationships and negatively impact on employment. dental fearother namesdental anxiety, dental phobia, odontophobiacycle of dental fear signs and symptoms as with all types of fear and phobias, dental fear can manifest as single or combination of emotional, physiological, cognitive and behavioural symptoms. emotional response feeling of fear feeling of anxiety apprehension panic physiological response increased heart rate breathlessness sweating nausea shaking cognitive response "i don't like the feeling of this..." "i am choking to death" "i am having a heart attack" "i am going to die" "feeling of swollen face" "i am not able to breathe" behavioural response agitation high vigilance cause