By Amit Kuar
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Psychology is essential but overlooked in dentistry. Despite psychological strategies being used in day-to-day appointments, many do not see or understand the link. Psychology is not only important in maintaining good oral health, but an individual's psychological state can also be negatively affected due to poor oral health.
As mentioned earlier, Psychology is essential in clinical dentistry. After completing work experience both online and in person, I have observed that dentists frequently use psychological strategies in their day-to-day lives. I gathered that dentists need to use psychology to analyse patients' behaviours, and to ensure that their time at the dental practice is the most comfortable it can possibly be. For example, dentists play music according to what the patients like to soothe their nerves and help them feel relaxed. These psychological strategies are really important as they ensure that patients attend their appointments and receive the help that they require. A 2024 survey conducted by 'psychreg ' found that 44% of UK adults feel anxious about visiting the dentist. Many of these people delay and avoid appointments. This is alarming as this can cause a negative effect on not only the patient but also the dentist and the dental team. For the patient, missing an NHS appointment can affect their availability to receive NHS treatment; as a result of, it would be really difficult for them to access the help that they need. Missed appointments also increase the stress of the dental team. Due to this, psychology is important in dentistry to ensure patients feel comfortable enough to attend their appointments, so dentists can provide patients the help that they need to maintain good oral health.
However, a negative psychological state can lead to poor oral health. Those with mental health issues are likely to neglect their oral health. For example, research conducted by the Oral Health Foundation implies that those suffering from mental illness tend to avoid dental care. Also, people with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety may eat a surplus amount of sugary foods or beverages and have difficulty performing daily tasks like brushing their teeth. I can infer that psychology is important in oral maintenance. While more severe mental health issues can impact oral care, milder psychological issues, such as temporary low mood, which is more common, can also affect daily oral hygiene routines. I have conducted a survey and found that 68% of people would skip brushing their teeth due to a bad mood or lack of motivation. Furthermore, 59% of those who do not skip brushing their teeth would spend less time looking after their teeth compared to when they are in their normal mood. These results imply that negative psychological states, such as bad moods, can reduce an individual's motivation to maintain daily oral hygiene routines. This is concerning because after reading ‘It's all in your mouth’ by Dominik Nischwitz, I found that his research suggests that oral bacteria can enter the heart,which may contribute to the trigger of the development of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, this highlights the importance of a healthy psychological well-being to maintain the health of our teeth and in turn, our body. Although this may be of concern, according to my survey 70% of people are self-aware that their mental state affects how well they look after their teeth. This suggests that people have noticed the neglect within themselves and can hopefully improve in the future.
It could be suggested that our psychological state is strongly linked to our oral health. Poor oral health can lead to low confidence, potentially adding to an individual's anxiety. Oral health affects our appearance, which in turn influences our confidence and finally affects our overall mental well-being. From my survey mentioned previously, I gathered that 59% of individuals had concerns about their teeth, which affected their confidence in social situations at least once. Also, 56% of individuals avoided smiling and speaking confidently for at least one reason due to concerns about their teeth and oral hygiene. This research suggests that oral health plays an important part in an individual's self-esteem and confidence, further reiterating the importance of oral health in social psychology. Research conducted by the 'oral health foundation' suggests that 31% of people in the UK feel inadequate about their smile due to social media and television. I have inferred from this that some individuals may feel an obligation to conform to the social psychological pressures of society to meet appearance standards, and perhaps individuals may feel insecure about their own appearance, including oral health, which is a big factor. A failure to meet these standards can cause mild psychological distress and can potentially contribute to more serious mental issues.
In conclusion, I believe that the psychological aspect of dentistry is very important for modern dental practices. This is because psychology is used to soothe patients' anxiety, has an effect on daily oral hygiene routines and also individuals' psychological state is affected as a result of our oral health. Hopefully, dentists can treat patients as individuals, as they have a potential explanation for neglect of oral health and the effect it has on an individual's confidence.
Photo via Glow and Grind
About the Author
Amrit is currently in her first year of sixth form in the UK. She is highly ambitious to study dentistry at university and become an orthodontist. She believes she is capable of studying dentistry as she knows the importance of teamwork from playing football from a young age. She would like to become an orthodontist to help with individuals' self-esteem by providing them with services such as braces to help them feel more self-confident. She has completed both in-person and online work experience for dentistry and has enjoyed it.
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