Chapter 18: Insights for fearful patients

This one was kinda obvious advice so i didnt do a lot

_________ is an emotional response to an immediate threat or danger.

Fear

____________ is an emotional response to a threat or danger that is not immediately present or is unclear.

Anxiety

_____________ is a persistent irrational fear of a specific object or situation that results in a compelling desire to either avoid the situation or to endure it with dread.

Phobia

What modifying behaviors might help with fear/anxiety/phobias?

Strategy, skill, response, reaction

__________ is the belief that one has at one’s disposal a response that can influence the aversiveness of an event.

Control

What is progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)?

Inhale and tense the leg muscles

Exhale while releasing the leg tension

Inhale and tense the arm and hand muscles

Exhale and release the hand and arm tension then let them go limp

There is a new patient in the chair. During appropriate introductions including handshaking, it is noticed that the patient’s hands are clammy and he has perspiration on his upper lip. He appears very stiff and responds with a brief yes or no to attempts to engage him in conversation. When deciding whether or not he is apprehensive about dental treatment he is scheduled to receive, the most appropriate strategy would be?

Check out the observations made by asking the patient about possible concerns regarding dental treatment.

Establishing trust in the patient-clinician relationship is especially important for fearful dental patients because they need to learn:

How to be assertive

Providing patients with information is an important means of increasing their sense of control in the dental environment. When providing information to a fearful patient about an aversive procedure:

The procedure should be described in simple terms, including the sensations the patient will experience so that the patient knows what to expect.

It is important to have the skills and confidence necessary to teach anxious and fearful patients how to relax in the dental chair.When a patient learns the physical relaxation skills of deep breathing and muscle relaxation:

Both A and B

Patients who are fearful of dental injections can benefit from having the opportunity to rehearse the procedure before receiving the actual injections. The objective of the rehearsal is to

Allow the patient to learn how his role and the clinician's role are synchronized before proceeding with the injection and treatment.

Some patients will report a history of receiving dental care without being adequately anesthetized. They may not be anxious about the injection procedure, but will be reluctant to proceed with the treatment after the administration of local anesthetics. Despite soft tissue signs and symptoms of anesthesia, they do not believe the teeth are numb. The next step for these patients should be to:

Verify that the tooth is adequately anesthetized by testing, preferably with an EPT, before beginning treatment.