Management of dental anxiety – a cross-sectional survey in private dental practices in the Swiss Romandy.

The main aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the management of dental anxiety reported by dental practitioners in western Switzerland. In 2013, an 18-item electronic questionnaire was sent to dental practitioners in the Swiss Romandy. A total of 140 (18.6%) questionnaires were included in the analysis. About four out of five practitioners (79.4%) involved with dental emergency service had at least one occurrence with dental phobic patients. The majority of the respondents stated that both dental anxiety and dental phobia increases stress in the dental practice with frequencies of 90.0% and 88.5%, respectively. Among the 119 respondents using anxiety reduction methods (85.0%), an overall of 51 (42.9%) reported using pharmacological methods while 89.9% (n = 107) used psychological methods. Female dentists were using psychological anxiety reduction methods three times more frequently than male dentists reaching borderline statistical significance (OR = 3.0, p = 0.0591). Out of 140 respondents, only 28 (20.1%) received education and training in dental anxiety reduction methods. The majority of these (66.4%; n = 83) stated that their education was inadequate and 55.8% (n = 77) requested further education and training. It can be concluded that more education and training of dental anxiety reduction methods are needed.