Odontophobia

Odontophobia, also called dental fear or dentophobia, is a fear of dentists and dental procedures that ranges from mild anxiety about the unknown to a severe, irrational fear that leads a person to avoid dental care entirely. Studies suggest that roughly one in six people experience high dental anxiety, with middle-aged women affected at higher rates than men. The most common root cause is a previous painful dental experience, though the fear can also spread through watching other people react, through negative media portrayals of dentistry, and through anxious parents modeling the fear to children under eight, who absorb it most readily. Anxious patients also show elevated cortisol levels and heightened autonomic nervous system activity, evidence of a biological component alongside the learned one.