Many people have a fear of dentists. An estimated 75% of U.S. adults have some form of dental fear from mild to severe. Dental phobia is also referred to as dentophobia, odontophobia, dentist phobia, dental anxiety, or dental fear. An estimated 5% to 10% of American adults suffer from fear of dentists. This means that they have such a fear of dentists that they avoid all dental care and only seek dental help when they have a dental emergency, such as an abscess or a toothache.
People who have a fear of dentists will often experience a cycle of avoidance. This is when a person avoids dental care because of fear until they experience a dental emergency requiring invasive treatment, which just goes to reinforce their fear of dentistry. Women tend to have more fear of dentists than men, and younger people tend to be more fearful of the dentist than older individuals. People are usually more fearful of invasive procedures, such as oral surgery, than of less invasive treatment, such as a professional dental cleaning.
Approximately 10% of dentists perform cosmetic dental procedures such as cosmetic dentistry implants. The success rate of these cosmetic dental services has been reported in scientific literature as 98%. It is estimated that in the United States, three million people have cosmetic dental implants. Approximately 3.75% of adults from the ages of 20 to 64 have no remaining real teeth in the United States and many of them need dental implants. When compared to adults 75 and over, 31.30% have no remaining real teeth. More on this topic.
