Your palms are sweating. Your heart is racing. And all you did was book a teeth cleaning appointment. Sound familiar? You are not alone. A national survey of over 1,100 Canadians found that 5.5% experience high levels of dental fear, with another 9.8% reporting moderate anxiety around dental treatment. Understanding where that fear comes from is the first step toward conquering it.
So what actually causes that knot in your stomach when you think about the dentist’s chair? Let’s break it down.
Past Experiences Are the Biggest Trigger
The number one cause of dental anxiety is a previous negative experience. Maybe a filling hurt more than expected when you were a kid. Maybe a root canal went sideways. Perhaps an old-school dentist wasn’t exactly gentle with the drill. Whatever happened, your brain filed it under “danger” — and now it sounds the alarm every time a dental visit comes up.
Research into Canadian adults with dental anxiety found that roughly half traced their fear back to childhood, with another 22% pointing to adolescence. In most cases, the trigger was a painful, frightening, or embarrassing dental experience. This is classic conditioning at work — your nervous system learned to associate the dental office with distress, and it’s been on high alert ever since. The good news? What your brain learned, it can also unlearn.
Options like sleep dentistry have made it possible for even the most anxious patients to get the dental treatment they need without the dread.
Fear of Pain Still Tops the List
Even people who’ve never had a bad experience at the dentist can develop dental fear rooted in the anticipation of pain. Stories from friends, dramatic scenes in movies, or even just the sound of a dental drill can plant seeds of worry. The reality is that modern dentistry has come a long way. Local anaesthesia, gentle hygienists, and advanced techniques mean that routine procedures like teeth cleaning, cavity fillings, and even extractions are far more comfortable than they used to be.
Still, the fear persists — because anxiety doesn’t always respond to logic.
Loss of Control and Vulnerability
There’s something uniquely uncomfortable about lying back in a chair with your mouth wide open while someone works inches from your face. You can’t see what’s happening. You can’t easily speak. You feel exposed. For people who value personal space and autonomy, this sense of helplessness can be deeply unsettling.
This is why communication with your dental team matters so much. Establishing a hand signal to pause the procedure, or simply asking your dentist to narrate each step, can restore a sense of control during your visit.
Embarrassment About Oral Health
Here’s one people don’t talk about enough: shame. If you’ve skipped dental checkups for a while, you might worry about being judged for the state of your teeth or gums. Plaque buildup, tooth decay, gum disease — these things happen, and they’re nothing to be embarrassed about. A compassionate dental professional has seen it all and is there to help, not to lecture.
Unfortunately, this embarrassment creates a vicious cycle. You avoid the dentist because you’re ashamed, your oral hygiene suffers further, and the anxiety grows. That cycle of avoidance is exactly what makes the problem worse over time.
Needles, Sounds, and Smells
Specific sensory triggers also play a major role. The sight of a syringe, the high-pitched whir of a drill, or the clinical smell of a dental office can all kick anxiety into overdrive. These triggers are often tied back to earlier experiences, but sometimes they’re connected to broader phobias like a fear of needles or a sensitivity to certain sounds.
What Can You Do About It?
Understanding the root cause of your dental anxiety is empowering. Once you know what’s driving the fear,or not, you can learn some management techniques here: How to Overcome Dental Anxiety. You can also work with your dentist to build a plan that makes preventive care, from routine cleanings to oral exams doable, here are some of their techniques: What Does a Dentist Do for Someone With Anxiety.
References
- Chanpong, B., Haas, D.A., & Locker, D. (2005). Need and demand for sedation or general anesthesia in dentistry: A national survey of the Canadian population. Anesthesia Progress, 52(1), 3–11. PMC2526218
- Locker, D., Liddell, A., Dempster, L., & Shapiro, D. (1999). Age of onset of dental anxiety. Journal of Dental Research, 78(3), 790–796. As cited in Randall, C.L. et al., Health Affairs (2023). Health Affairs
- Berggren, U. (1984). Dental fear and avoidance: A study of etiology, consequences, and treatment. As cited in Carlsson, V. et al. (2022), Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19(1), 198. PMC8700242
