Decidophobia in the Dental Chair
Why Dental Patients Avoid Making Choices?
In dental treatment, as in life, the choices we make are shaped by what we know, what we fear, and who we trust.
Many patients, when presented with treatment options, respond:
“Whatever you think is best, doctor.”
They are not weak.
They are afraid.
Afraid of choosing wrong.
Afraid of being blamed.
Afraid of the unknown.
As a dentist, I saw it all the time. Even smart, capable people shut down when it came time to choose between different diagnoses or treatment options.
What Is Decidophobia?
Decidophobia is an extreme, irrational fear of making decisions.
In healthcare, this fear often leads patients to defer to authority rather than participate in shared decision-making.
🧠 Why Patients Fear Taking Responsibility for Health Decisions
1. Fear of Regret
If you choose, you own the outcome. People often prefer to hand that burden to someone else.
Philosopher Avishai Margalit called this moral outsourcing — letting others decide so we won’t feel guilty if things go wrong.
Psychologists refer to this as anticipated regret. It can make people avoid choosing altogether, even if that leads to worse outcomes.
2. Fear of Knowledge
Making a decision means confronting uncomfortable truths:
What if I can’t afford this?
What if this treatment fails?
This is a form of avoidance coping — people protect their emotions by ignoring difficult information, even when it harms their health.
3. Fear of Blame
“If I choose and it goes badly, it’s my fault.”
It’s easier to say, “The dentist told me to do it.”
Blame feels heavier when it's self-directed. Patients may prefer being “done to” over participating — even if they later feel regret.
4. Conditioning from Authority Culture
We’re raised to obey experts, especially in medicine.
Questioning is seen as rude or dangerous.
Many patients feel it’s safer to comply than to risk conflict.
5. Cognitive Overload in the Chair
Pain. Pressure. Bright lights. Strange words.
This isn’t a space where people think clearly.
It's a classic case of decision fatigue — when the brain, under stress, avoids effortful thinking.
Is Deferring to the Expert a Loss of Freedom — or a Kind of Safety?
Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that freedom is terrifying. We often run from it.
Erich Fromm, in Escape from Freedom, said we fear the burden of choice and seek authority to avoid anxiety.
Michel Foucault might argue that patients submit because medical systems are built on invisible power: the chair, the white coat, the jargon — all pushing people to obey.
We often say freedom is power.
But in the dental chair, freedom can feel like fear.
True care means giving patients not just choices,
but the safety to choose.
References
Zeelenberg, M., van Dijk, W. W., Manstead, A. S. R., & van der Pligt, J. (2000).
On bad decisions and disconfirmed expectancies: The psychology of regret and disappointment.
Cognition and Emotion, 14(4), 521–541.
https://doi.org/10.1080/026999300402781Sweeny, K., Melnyk, D., Miller, W., & Shepperd, J. A. (2010).
Information Avoidance: Who, What, When, and Why.
Review of General Psychology, 14(4), 340–353.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021288
This article was written by Dr. Heba Hussein, also author of Tooth Talk, a Substack about oral health, patient rights and patient advocacy. Read more here:
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