Fear of dentist begins at early age: research

Research by tandarts.nl has shown that most people's fear of a dentist started at an early age. This fear cause many people to avoid visiting the dentist on a regular basis, which results in unhealthy teeth and gums. Most of the respondents in the tandarts.nl study indicated that they first became scared of the dentist when they were younger than 10 years old (44 percent). 41 percent said that it happened between the ages of 10 and 20 years and 15 percent indicated their fear arose in adulthood (older than 20 years). The result is that people often visit the dentist less regularly than they should. Only 13 percent of respondents indicated that they visit the dentist on a regular basis (at least once a year). The remaining 87 percent have not been to the dentist in more than a year. 20 percent of them haven't visited the dentist in more than 10 years. According to tandarts.nl, it is very important to visit your dentist regularly to ensure healthy teeth and gums. Once every six months is best. Healthy teeth are important for appearance, for chewing food and for overall health. An infection in the mouth can attack the immune system.