dental drill phobia

[liv]

Does anyone know what is the phobia when you are afraid of dentist's drills?Which phobia is it?

[letsconnect]

We call it "handpiece" around here

It's a "specific dental fear". There's no actual term for it, but I've seen it referred to as drill phobia (so you're spot on there). I suppose it has several components - some people are specifically concerned about the noise the air turbine makes, others may have had bad experiences where a dentist actually slipped up and cut them, others again may not have been numbed properly (or not numbed at all) and have come to associate the handpiece with pain. The equation then goes something like this: drill = noise = pain, and even though these three events are independent (the handpiece on its own is harmless, the sound on its own is annoying but harmless, and if properly numbed, no pain will be experienced), the thought of the handpiece and the sound the air turbine makes will evoke powerful feelings of fear.

That's not the only explanation, but it's a common one...