Have you ever thought of coming to the dentist and you cringe? Most people cringe when they come to the dentist for a very good reason. Some patients just cringe because they’re fearful of the pain. Some are fearful of the unknown, meaning that they are in a vulnerable position where they are not in control of everything. Some patients cringe because they are just fearful of being judged, where they haven’t seen the dentist for a long time, and they’ve got a lot of things going in their mouth. They just don’t want to be judged for who they are as a person based on what’s happening in their mouth.
Now, if you’re one of those, you’re not alone. The purpose of this video is so that I can actually help patients understand or find out ways to get a more minimal discomfort dental experience. Coming to the dentist is never pleasant, but there are always ways to actually minimise the discomfort level and make it slightly more pleasant for you.
One of the ways is to speak to your friends and family members and ask who they trust as a dentist, because a dentist who’s got a good recommendation from someone might have ways to help you out with your dental anxiety. Be certain that when you see that dentist, he’s got some sort of special interest in managing dental fear, because to manage dental anxiety in the dental field takes quite a bit of time and training to understand your psychology and what’s behind your fear. So that’s number one.
Number two, explain to the dentist what your fears are. Be very clear and precise in your communication, because that way, it allows the dentist to actually help you move forward with the dental treatment. For example, if you don’t like the sound of drill, maybe get a headset. The dentist might provide you with a headset to listen to so that you don’t have to listen to the noise. If you don’t like the certain smell in a dental practice, maybe ring up beforehand and tell them, I do not like this smell or whatever it is, and they might maybe help you out with this. So be clear and concise with the dentist or the practice so that they can help you to move forward with treatment.
You also might want to employ some relaxation technique, for example, slow, deep breaths. Close your eyes and imagine something nice and peaceful. Something to distract you from actually thinking of where you are in the chair. That way, it can actually take you away from the situation and hopefully you can enjoy the process a bit more.
Now, one of the other things is to get your dentist to prescribe you some medication to actually calm you down and relax you, because that can actually prove to be a very powerful tool to actually get you in a chair in a relaxed state so that you’re not uptight. You’re not tensed up with everything a dentist does. This can help calm you down and move forward with the treatment.
Finally, one of the most frequent ways would be to actually get the patients to do treatment when they’re asleep. You can do IV sedation or general anaesthesia so that you’re under and you don’t know what’s happening, so when you wake up, it’s all done. No pain, no memory, no recollection, and your mouth will be nice and healthy! That’s one other way to get a very minimal discomfort experience.
Hopefully, this video has helped you in terms of getting understanding what dental fear is and understanding what ways you can actually get a more pleasant experience. Now, with that being said, again communication is key. Speak to your dentist and speak to your loved ones and see who can help you.
