THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF DENTAL ANXIETY AMONG ADULT PATIENTS IN A CLINICAL SETTING

Background: Dental anxiety is an important issue with a significant proportion of adults who avoid care and have poor oral health outcomes, and is experienced as a subjective first-person perception; however, this aspect is under-explored compared to the predominantly quantitative literature on dental anxiety prevalence and correlates.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the lived experience of dental anxiety in adult patients during common dental health care situations through a phenomenologically grounded qualitative approach.

Method: High dental anxiety was defined among the adults (n = 12, P1–P12) who volunteered to participate in this study in two rounds of semi-structured interviews. Of the 12 transcripts, each had usable data, and were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six phase reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: Six themes emerged: anticipatory anxiety before the appointment, physiological or embodied experience of anxiety, the feeling of lack of control and the desire to gain control, the role of the practitioner as a key moderator, and a personal repertoire of coping strategies, and a general wish to be believed, rather than judged, across a broad range of severity. Dental anxiety was felt not only as fear of pain per se but as a sense of a loss of control over oneself, and the combination of sensory triggers and communication from the practitioner, which made it a great deal more manageable.

Conclusion: These findings are congruent with trauma-informed, patient-centred dental care, where it is understood that clear communication is essential, agreed stop signals are valued and patient distress is explicitly validated as part of the clinical process, not just courtesy. The implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.