Fear is arguably the main reason why anyone would avoid going to the dentist. You can try to reason with yourself, but the biology of fear often seems out of your control. Once your heart starts racing, how are you supposed to stop it? When your muscles tighten, and you feel like you can’t breathe, there’s no talking yourself out of those feelings. Have you ever wondered what causes fear, or do you think you know all about the origins of anxiety? Your Farmington Hills dentist, Dr. Aziza Askari, challenges you to a quiz on fear.
Questions
Q1. True or false – Fear reactions begin in the nerves.
Q2. True or false – The hypothalamus is a big part of fear responses.
Answers
A1. FALSE – The chain reaction of fear begins in your brain. A stressful stimulus is the catalyst that causes your heart to race, your breathing to become more rapid, and tightening in your muscles. The range of causes for a response of fear vary from person-to-person. For some, it might be public speaking, others snakes, and, of course, there’s always more than a few people that feel intense fear when they go to the dentist. For this reason, sedation dentistry has become increasingly popular over the years.
A2. TRUE – Ever hear of the fight-or-flight response? The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that controls this ancient survival reaction. In response to the cause of fear, your body will experience a sudden flood of multiple hormones, including epinephrine and norepinephrine. Heart rate and blood pressure will suddenly increase as your pupils dilate. Blood glucose levels have been seen to increase, veins constrict, sending excess blood to the muscles that can give a feeling of a sudden chill all over the body. The brain often feels fuzzy at this point, lessening the ability to focus on small tasks.