A new online cognitive-behavioral therapy (o-CBT) tool may effectively reduce dental anxiety, potentially improving oral health in adults with dental fear. This study was published recently in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.
Furthermore, this tool, which consisted of a single, one-hour online session that helped a patient in building coping skills for managing dental anxiety and other interventions, aimed to encourage patients to schedule and keep preventive dental appointments, the authors wrote.
“The online cognitive-behavioural intervention was efficacious in reducing dental anxiety when compared to a control condition in an urban sample of patients receiving treatment in a dental school setting,” wrote the authors, led by Marisol Tellez, PhD, MPH, of the Temple University in Philadelphia (Community Dent Oral Epidemiol, June 13, 2025).
This randomized controlled trial involved 499 adult dental patients with high dental anxiety who were assigned to one of three groups: a psychology intervention (PI) group, a dental intervention (DI) group, or a control (C) group. Participants in the PI and DI groups received a one-hour online o-CBT session before their dental appointment, while control participants watched a one-hour nature video, they wrote.
The o-CBT session began with psychoeducation on dental anxiety followed by a motivational interviewing exercise to help participants evaluate the pros and cons of addressing their anxiety. Then patients completed coping and exposure exercises, which included watching videos of their most feared dental procedures. Dental anxiety was measured using the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and the Anxiety and Related Disorders Interview Schedule DSM-V (ADIS).
Significant reductions in dental anxiety were observed in both the dental intervention DI and PI groups over 12 months. MDAS scores decreased by about five to six points, from 19.4 ± 3.9 to 14.3 ± 4.6 in DI and from 19.4 ± 3.8 to 13.8 ± 5.1 in PI. At 12 months, the DI group saw further reduction (to 14.3 ± 4.6), though the comparison to control was not statistically significant (p = 0.08), they wrote.
However, the study had limitations. Despite reducing dental anxiety, the one-time, 60-minute o-CBT intervention did not improve dental attendance, likely due to other influencing factors, the authors added.
“The observed reductions in dental anxiety can have a meaningful impact on the oral health of adults with clinically significant dental anxiety,” they wrote.
