Dental Anxiety – How to overcome it

 Dental Anxiety – What is it?

Dental Anxiety is often a ‘blanket term’ to describe a fear of visiting the Dentist.  There are seemingly different extremes of Dental anxiety, described below:

• Dental anxiety Is a reaction to potential, anticipated danger. Most patients have some degree of dental anxiety, especially when facing a new procedure.  Often, it’s a fear of the unknown.

• Dental fear Tends to be far more specific. If somebody has a fear, they are able to tell you what they’re scared of.

• Dental phobia Patients have a terror so strongly that they will avoid the dentist until either the physical pain or the emotional burden of the phobia becomes too overwhelming. Some patients will force themselves into their dental practice but endure these encounters with intense fear or anxiety.

The reasons for this are variable, but all is not lost.  Our fabulous team of Dental Professionals can help you overcome your fear, so that you can visit our practice regularly to help keep your teeth and gums healthy.

Do I have Dental Anxiety?

• Have you delayed visiting the Dentist, through fear?
• Would you struggle to sleep the night before an appointment?
• Does your heart race at the sound of Dental Equipment?
• Do you associate the Dentist with negative memories of a bad dental experience? Perhaps from Childhood?
• Were/are your parents anxious about visiting a Dentist?

If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, you may have Dental Anxiety.  It is therefore important to understand where your concerns come from, so we can help you overcome them.

Helpful ways to overcome Dental Anxiety

Maybe you were once nervous about visiting the dentist when you were experiencing pain or discomfort, and have delayed the appointment, causing the pain to become worse; This can make you feel more apprehensive about the treatment needed to resolve your pain.  Visiting the Dentist as soon as the discomfort arises, is often the simpler solution.  Left untreated, caries (decay) can get worse, sometimes resulting in the need for further treatment.

Please speak to one of our friendly receptionists, they will explain what will happen at your appointment.  Often our imagination is very creative, when we do not know what to expect.  Having someone, patiently and empathetically  explain what will happen at the fist consultation, alleviates some concerns, allowing for a more restful sleep.

When at the practice, some particularly nervous patients opt to listen to music, or podcasts through their noise cancelling headphones, which allows for a calmer wait.  We always do our best to keep to set appointment times, so will never keep you waiting unless it is completely unavoidable.  Some patients choose to keep their headphones on throughout their treatment too, this distraction technique has proven very helpful for some patients.

Have you associated a bad childhood experience at the Dentist, with pending appointment you have made?  Remember that we are trained professionals and can help you rationalise your fears, taking your appointments at your own pace and helping you to understand the need and order of the treatment required, so you always know what to expect.

Tips for staying calm before and during an appointment

• Breathing Exercises

The British Heart Foundation has some top tips on breathing exercises to try and explains in great detail how this can help. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/wellbeing/breathing-exercises .

• Remember you are in control

Your Dentist will explain that you can stop the treatment at any time if you need a minute to re-compose yourself.  This is often, lifting your hand in a controlled way to indicate to the Dentist that you would like a break.  Knowing you can pause treatment, is a great way to calm anxieties once your treatment has started.

• Share your concerns

We have a well established team, with whom you can be yourself.  Our practice is a judgement-free zone, where we will listen to you and strive to understand the origin of your fears; making suggestions of ways that we can work with you to overcome them.

Will Sedation help me?

Some patients feel that the above tips just wont suffice, in these cases we can speak to you about the potential to refer you to our sister clinic, Crook Log Dental Practice in Bexleyheath.  For more information about the types of sedation available check out their blog https://www.crooklogdentalpractice.co.uk/treatment/sedation/

Your comfort is our priority

Often a fear of the Dentist can stem from having witnessed our parents struggle with visiting the Dentist through their own anxiety, this can trigger a phobia in us too.  Again, our friendly, patient team can help you to understand what to expect and in turn, you may just surprise yourself, as many of our patients do…

Here is a little snippet of what our wonderful patients have to say