ABSTRACT :Dental anxiety and fear is a frequently encountered problem in dental offices which often results in avoidance of dental care. A long-term avoidance of dental treatment due to dental anxiety may decline the state of oral health resulting in more missing teeth, decayed teeth, and poor periodontal status. Anxiety is usually managed by both pharmacologically and nonpharmacological methods. Pharmacologic management of anxiety can significantly improve patient outcomes; however, it is associated with some risks, requires additional equipment and cannot be applied to the patients with allergies and other medications. Recently, contemporary and alternative medicine approaches such as aromatherapy have been considered in dental settings as one of the non-pharmacological strategies with the concept that therapeutic use of essential and aromatic oils can produce positive physiological effect by the sense of smell inducing relaxation, and thus quell certain anxiety symptoms. Thus the use of essential oils from plants such as lemon, melaleuca, bergamot, clove, lavender and orange is an alternative to pharmacologic approach since it has shown positive anxiolytic and sedative effects in dentistry and also have been used topically for their antibiotic and antiviral properties for years.
KEYWORDS: Aromatherapy, dental anxiety, essential oil, lavender.