Anxiety. Dental overview.

Once the determination has been made that the patient's fears are not psychiatrically related, the dentist has the initial responsibility of evaluating the degree of anxiety present and attempting to relate this to a method of alleviating it. The most frequently used methods are behavioral and consist of talking to the patient, explaining the procedure clearly, reassuring the patient, and accurately estimating the degree of discomfort that may be associated with the treatment. Prescribing adequate pain control methods suited to the patient's needs come next. It is not appropriate to shoehorn each patient into a preset method of treatment. If one is not skilled in advance forms of anxiety and pain control, the kindest service is to refer the patient to another dentist who may be better equipped. This is a far better practice than to make extravagant claims about one's capability with conscious sedation, nitrous oxide analgesia, and so forth. Patient's confidence in your ability is constantly tested against the treatment they receive and the success of that treatment.