Dealing With Dental Phobia

Treating patients who suffer with dental anxiety

Dental phobia is thought to affect nearly a third of the population of the UK and this is something that we see, to varying degrees, on an almost daily basis at our dental practice.

Of course, this phobia can range from a relatively mild worry about visiting the dentist to a total and absolute white knuckle terror and depending on how bad a person’s fear is, different methods of controlling it may be used.

In fact, we pride ourselves on our ability to put our nervous patients at ease. Because of this, we find that not only do patients come from Derbyshire to us but we also attract clients from across county borders from towns such as Ashby and Burton because of our reputation in this area.

Mild Dental Phobia

For most people who have a mild fear of the dentist, simply gritting their teeth (though not too hard otherwise you may wear them away!) and going anyway is enough. Whilst it may not be a pleasant experience, those in this category can usually manage to visit on a regular basis and therefore get the care that they need to prevent more invasive procedures later on.

Moderate Dental Phobia

People in this category usually need a little help to be able to pluck up the courage to visit for some dental treatment, or even often a check up. A few things that people find helps them to overcome their fear, at least enough to visit are as follows:

• taking a friend along
• listening to music on an MP3 player during the procedure (ask your dentist first though)
• relaxation and meditation techniques
• herbal or alternative therapies (please seek medical guidance first)
• deep breathing techniques

One, or a combination of these, is often enough to reduce the fear to a level that is acceptable and enables them to have the treatment that is needed.

Severe Dental Phobia

This category covers the unfortunate people who have a level of dental phobia that prevents them from visiting their dentist, often for a number of years. Whilst for a period of time they may not have any major problems, it is almost a certainty that eventually problems will arise and often in a way that needs quite invasive treatment. This in turn is likely to raise the fear level even higher. It is therefore important that this fear and vicious circle is overcome to keep their oral health in good condition.

Whilst some of the suggestions for the medium category may help to some degree, severe dental phobics are likely to need something more powerful to keep them calm during the procedure; remember that a calm patient also means that it is easier for the dentist to perform the procedure both quickly and safely. For severe phobics, medication is often the only solution available and a procedure known as conscious sedation may be suitable. Here, medication is used that does not put the patient to sleep but introduces a state of complete relaxation. With this treatment, many patients temporarily lose the sense of time and procedures seem to pass very quickly as well as painlessly.

Whatever method you choose though, we do strongly recommend that you ensure that you see a dentist on a regular basis and you can be sure that at Alexandra Dental Care, we will take very good care of you.

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