Minimum intervention oral healthcare for people with dental phobia: a patient management pathway

Br Dent J. 2020 Oct;229(7):417-424. doi: 10.1038/s41415-020-2178-2. Epub 2020 Oct 9.

Abstract

Dental phobia is relatively common among adults and often associated with poorer oral health as a consequence of delaying dental treatment until advanced disease has caused intolerable symptoms. The increased rates of active disease may also have an impact on oral health-related quality of life (OHR QoL).Minimum intervention oral healthcare (MIOC) combines four key domains: detection and diagnosis, prevention and control of oral disease, minimally invasive (MI) operative interventions and review/recall. Team delivery and patient-focused care are the underpinning tenets to these four domains. The MIOC approach offers advantages to both patients with dental phobia and the oral healthcare team involved in their long-term management. This paper presents an adaptation of MIOC for patients with dental phobia, which is founded on a comprehensive assessment approach followed by the provision of dental care with behavioural management techniques in combination with conscious sedation. This approach has the potential to provide a comprehensive personalised patient management pathway for delivering better oral health for this vulnerable patient group in a primary care setting.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Conscious Sedation
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Dental Anxiety* / prevention & control
  • Humans
  • Oral Health
  • Quality of Life*