Abstract
The chapter is a very important topic of study for the dental chair side
assistant. One of the main jobs that he has to perform is of controlling the anxiety of
the patient and trying to make the patient more cooperative. There are various types of
anxiety, and they may have an association with past experience, or they may be inbuilt.
Anxiety needs to be assessed and conveyed. It is important to assess it on a numerical
scale and by various physiological tools. Methods of scoring anxiety are discussed for
learning how to calculate and communicate the anxiety in our patient. Five self-explanatory real-life pictures are included for the benefit of the student.
Keywords: Anxiety, General Anxiety, Electrodermal Activity, Cortisol Concentration, Modified Dental Anxiety Score, Facial Anxiety Score, Anxiety Thermometer, Phobic Patient.