Evaluating a behavioral method to manage dental fear: a 2-year study of dental practices.

Eleven private general practices and a university clinic formed a network to treat dental fear. The practices located in four states learned a method of treating dental fear using dental staff members and audiovisual materials. This study is an evaluation of the network's effectiveness. In 15 months, 111 patients were treated by the network. The dentists reported providing substantial dental treatment to 77% (n = 86) of the patients. The study showed that private general practices can effectively treat strong dental fear.