Dear A Moment of Science,
亲爱的的《科学一刻》栏目组，
I hate going to the dentist. In fact, I openly fear it.
我很讨厌看牙医。真的，我对此感到很恐惧。
Yet I've never actually had a really bad orpainful experience with a dentist.
可是我实际上并没有看牙医的糟糕经历。
So why do I fear it so much?
那我为什么会对此感到如此恐惧呢？
You're certainly not alone.
有此感受的不仅仅是你一个人。
Quaking in your boots at the mere thought of a dental check up-letalone having a cavity taken care of-is a time honored tradition.
一想到要检查牙齿，腿脚就哆嗦，更别说补牙洞了。这种感受由来已久。
And it doesn't necessarily derive from a bad dental experience.
对牙医的害怕不一定来自您糟糕的看病经历。
New research shows that fear ofthe dentist is often passed down from parents to their children.
如今有研究表明，对牙医的恐惧感常常可以通过父母传递给子女。
Fathers are especially involved.
父亲们的因素很关键。
Previous studies found a link between parents'attitudes toward thedentist and kids' fear.
过去的研究表明，父母对牙医的态度和子女对看牙医的恐惧感有关联。
But the new study reveals that kids pay even closer attention to how theirfathers react when the dentist is involved.
不过现在有研究发现子女们会密切关注父亲看牙医的反应。
Apparently, when fathers display fear and anxiety, kidsare most likely to pick up those cues and see dental visits as something to fear.
明显的例子是，当父亲表现出恐惧和焦虑的时候，子女很可能受到这些心理暗示，把看牙医当作恐怖的事情对待。
Why fathers carry so much weight in influencing how their kids think about the dentist is not clear.
父亲们为何会如此大程度地影响子女对牙医的看法，原因尚不可知。
At least the study doesn't really offer an explanation.
至少这项研究没有给出合理解释。
But it does suggest that fathers can play animportant role in what psychologists called positive emotional contagion.
不过研究指出，父亲在被心理学家称为积极情绪传导的过程中举足轻重。
If fathers' fear of the dentist can contaminate their kids, the opposite might also be true.
如果父亲们对牙医的恐惧会传染给他们的子女，那么反之亦然。
In otherwords, dads behaving positively and not displaying fear could orient their kids towards not fearingthe dentist.
换句话说，父亲们正面的言行，不带恐惧的表现可以引导他们的子女不再害怕牙医。
So the researchers call for parents, and fathers in particular, to beinvolved in dentist fearprevention campaigns.
因此研究人员呼吁父母们，尤其是父亲们，行动起来，帮助子女防治牙医恐惧症。
