Dentist Autonomy

ADULTS LOW LEVELS OF DENTAL ANXIETY:

Low levels of dental anxiety can arise from a loss of control and helplessness as a patient. Dentists should provide preparatory information about procedures that need to be done but also include their patients in decision-making. This is very important in one’s dental career because it allows patients to express their right in accepting or refusing treatment. Patient autonomy is one of the key medical principles; dental professionals should abide by and follow . One way a dentist could achieve this is by agreeing on a hand signal . The patient can stop the dentist at any time during a procedure so they can take a break or rinse their mouth. A patient doesn’t have to signal the dentist to stop a procedure
It allows one to control their anxiety levels, stop negative thoughts and develop coping and problem-solving skills . An individual can identify their negative thoughts and challenge them with the pros and cons and change their perception of the situation by replacing them with positive more accurate thoughts. A study done by King’s College London, suggested that Cognitive Behavioural therapy sessions had increased dental attendance, reduced dental anxiety and offered effective technique for patients to receive treatment without sedation. After an average of five sessions, most of the patients could be treated by a dentist without being sedated. Overall, sedation doesn’t help overcome dental fear in the long run but only makes dental phobic patents feel relaxed for a short period of time. However Cognitive therapy sessions are no always available, and the sessions mostly focus on depression and general anxiety as opposed to dental anxiety. Therefore there needs to e a close collaboration with the dental team and Cognitive behavioural therapists so theses sessions can be widely available in the
However it does not combat the problem of reducing or curing people who already have this dental fear from the