The results of a new study by the British Dental Health Foundation are not good news for dentists, finding that visits to the dentist are more anxiety-provoking and stressful than snakes and spiders. The study’s findings mirror those of last month’s Adult Dental Health Survey. The Adult Dental Health Survey found that half of adults, especially women, have moderate to extreme anxiety about going to the dentist. The British Dental Health Foundation surveyed 1,004 people as a precursor to National Smile Month 2011 and asked them to choose from a list of things that made them most nervous and scared: heights, air travel, shots, doctors, snakes, spiders, going to the hospital and going to the dentist. One in five people said that going to the dentist was the thing that made them most nervous – more than any other thing or things. Overall from the survey results, the top of the fear list was the height, followed closely by going to the dentist and going to the hospital. Snakes came in fourth and spiders came in fifth. Compared to doctors, dentists are more frightening. A survey by the British Dental Health Foundation found that the number of people most afraid of going to the dentist (22 percent) was ten times greater than the number most afraid of going to the doctor (2 percent). The Adult Dental Health Survey noted that there are two main types of dental treatment that cause dental anxiety: Thirty percent of adults said that having a dental drill makes them very or extremely anxious. About the same percentage (28%) said that local anesthetic injections made them feel very or extremely anxious. Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said: “Everyone in the dental profession knows that dental anxiety is a major barrier preventing many people from going to the dentist. Dentists are much scarier than doctors, a comparison that worries us. And while comparing dentists to snakes and spiders may not seem like a big deal, it reflects the fact that we still have a lot of work to do to build public confidence.”