How is dental phobia measured here in Dr. Salituro’s dental office?

First and foremost, Dr. Pam Kaczmarek - a licensed clinical professional counselor and Doctor of clinical psychology is the person who oversees administration, interpretation, and design of assessment tools used specifically for Dr. Salituro’s patients. Having a professional counselor on staff who is savvy at working with dental phobic patients is key to a successful treatment plan.

While there are various instruments for researchers which attempt to measure the degree of the fear, such as Corah’s Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and a shorter version, the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), Dr. Kaczmarek prefers to use her own along with a clinical interview which helps her understand the patient’s concerns.

Ask yourself the following question: “Am I terrified of dentists and avoid them at all costs?” If the answer is yes, this is a good indicator of dental phobia! Even seemingly innocuous reminders of anything dental-related may produce a panic-attack if you suffer from dental phobia, such as people talking about dentists or teeth, toothpaste commercials, or “œdental words”. When you’re in the depth of a dental phobia, this cute teddy may strike you as pretty frightening (a dentist in teddy’s clothing) - yet another reminder of your worst nightmare.