That nearly incapacitating fear that many people experience when visiting their local dentist is not as prevalent when they engage in dental tourism, and British researchers are learning why this happens and how patients can overcome this phobia.

Odontophobia is one of the many terms used to associate the unfounded fear of dental procedures. Longitudinal research studies conducted in the United States suggest that more than 70 percent of adults experience mild to serious fright when they are about to sit on the dentist’s chair. This condition is so common that Australian musician Vance Joy even addressed odontophobia in the opening lyrics of his 2013 hit song Riptide: “I was scared of dentists and the dark.”

In a recent issue of the British Dental Journal, a professor of psychology at King’s College London Dental Institute explained that a few cognitive behavioral therapy sessions can work wonders for patients who suffer from odontophobia. In other words, overcoming this fear can be learned through guided talk therapy.

It can be assumed that odontophobia could derail a planned dental tourism vacation in Costa Rica; fortunately, certain cognitive processes that occur naturally during such experience can prevent this from happening. For example, medical tourists who choose to get comprehensive restoration work done at the Flikier Institute of Oral Rehabilitation in Costa Rica typically begin to plan their trip weeks and even months in advance; this entails telephone conversations and email correspondence with dental health professionals.

By the time patients arrive in Costa Rica and check-in at the Flikier Institute, they have already built a long distance rapport that they are pleased to affirm by finally meeting the team members who help them. Dental treatments aside, these are foreign visitors who are curious and eager to learn about our country and our people; this is a classic cognitive process that can alleviate the specter of odontophobia.

In the end, dental tourists in Costa Rica are still tourists, and they will be positively welcomed and appreciated as such. These positive interactions are at the heart of cognitive behavioral therapy.