Oral Health | Clinical and Risk Asessment | Assessing the anxious patient

Assessing the anxious patient
Session overview
Description
This session describes the aetiology of dental anxiety and the main barriers to receiving dental care for the anxious patient. The procedure for patient assessment will be described and the management options available will be highlighted.

Learning objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• list the main aetiological factors contributing to dental anxiety
• identify the key signs of anxiety in the dental patient
• describe how to assess anxiety levels in the dental patient
• identify appropriate management options for the anxious dental patient

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should have experience in:

• assessing dental patients
• formulating treatment plans for dental patients

For many patients, a visit to the dentist invokes a feeling of anxiety.

The control of pain and anxiety is integral to the provision of dental care.

Consequently, the dental profession has a responsibility to ensure all patients receive treatment in the most appropriate and effective way possible.

The Adult Dental Health Survey carried out in the UK indicated that 64% of dentate adults were nervous of some kinds of dental treatment [1](read details regarding the reference).

Understanding the cause of a patient’s anxiety is essential to enable appropriate management and treatment strategies to be formulated.