[Importance of psychology in dentistry]

In this paper, the venezuelan dentists express their necessities of knowing certain aspects of psychology that could be useful in the relations with their patients. In the investigation a 16 item questionnaire was elaborated, taking 5 areas in consideration: a. Psychological management of the dental patient. b. Psychological consequences of the dental disease. c. Dental disease psychogenesis. d. Patient first contact behavior. e. Aspects of work organization. 100 dentists and 100 dental students of the last 2 years were inquired, in order to compare these two populations at the XXXth Congress of the venezuelan dentists. The two proportion coefficient test was used with: P less than or equal to 0.01. As a result 4 groups of items had a significant difference: a. Patient dissertation. b. Children with problematic behavior. c. Anxious patients; and d. Professional fees. Quantitatively 16 items were recognized as items in with Psychology could be useful to be applied in dentistry. The article concludes with 6 recommendations underlining the important role of the dental psychology in the dental school as well as in private practice.