School-based intervention as a treatment for dental phobia

Abstract

Many children struggle with anxiety disorders. One form of anxiety that children experience is fear of the dentist. Many children share a fear of going to the dentist, fear of tools, sounds, and needles. Studies have attempted to reduce this level of fear and integrate different techniques into the office atmosphere. These consist of “Tell Show Do,” modeling, establishing a positive rapport, medication, relaxation, systematic desensitization as well as a variety of adjustments in procedures. School-based interventions, in particular, have been proven to be effective in areas such as mental health and obesity, thus offering a medium through which dental phobia may be addressed. The proposed pilot study hypothesizes that school-based interventions can be used as a solution to minimize the prevalence of dental phobia. By examining the successful elements of these studies, a school-based intervention is proposed where a study team consisting of a dentist, dental assistant, and mental health professional will visit a public school in Queens, New York four times a year for grades 1-4. The study team will utilize in their workshops education, modeling, exposure therapy as well as relaxation techniques. After each presentation, self-report measures will be taken to examine the effectiveness of the intervention.