How To Manage Dental Anxiety: Tips For A Stress-free Visit – A study by the British Dental Foundation found that around 20% of us fear going to the dentist. Among those who do not visit the dentist regularly, 36 percent cited fear as the main reason for not visiting the dentist.
Unfortunately, missing a visit to the dentist can lead to serious oral health problems. If you don’t have regular dental checkups, you may not be able to spot problems in their early stages and can turn simple, treatable ailments into life-threatening problems.
How To Manage Dental Anxiety: Tips For A Stress-free Visit
Fear can be a powerful motivator, but we can overcome our dental phobia with a few, often very simple, techniques. With that in mind, here are some great techniques you can use.
Using Nitrous Oxide To Treat Anxious Patients
The best place to start is to talk to your dentist or dental practice. If you really cannot visit the practice, try to arrange a consultation by phone.
Try to discuss your fears at the consultation and let the dentist know what they can do to help you. Things to discuss should include:
All of these options can help you feel more relaxed at the dentist. They are human too and really have no desire to scare you or cause you avoidable pain.
Distraction techniques are designed to help your mind focus on other things during treatment. There are several distraction methods you can consider, but we recommend one of the following.
Discover Your Orthodontic Treatment Options
It’s worth considering anything that might work for you, and anything that won’t interfere with your treatment and will help you relax and stay busy.
Relaxation techniques are incredibly helpful if you want to reduce stress before and during treatment. Here are two options that have been shown to help patients with dental problems.
Light exercises relax the body perfectly. We don’t want you to jump straight into practice after a ten-mile run, but your body will be most comfortable if you practice and then shower before the procedure. Even light exercise can help you relax.
Controlled breathing exercises act as a relaxation and distraction technique and are really helpful. Breathing through the mouth during treatment can be difficult, so practice breathing through the nose in time. Taking three slow deep breaths in and out is a great way to lower your heart rate and occupy your mind by counting slow breaths in and out.
Dealing With Dental Anxiety
If these methods do not help you overcome your fear of teeth, you can seek help from groups and therapists to address the underlying issues that are causing your fear.
There are also a number of online support groups, such as Dental Fear Central, where you can talk to other people with similar problems and find support and techniques to help you.
If that doesn’t help, treatment may be the best option. You can get treatment for dental phobia on the NHS and there are actually many specialists who deal with dental phobia as it is a common fear for many of us.
We wish you all the best in overcoming your fear of teeth and hope this helps you on your way to safer oral hygiene.
Conquer Dental Anxiety: Essential Tips For Stress Free Visits
Dove Dental Care is a dentist in Derby that offers gentle and caring dental treatment using a range of techniques such as dental sedation to help manage fear and anxiety. Every product I recommend meets strict safety and testing standards. When you make a purchase through links on my website, I may earn a small commission to help cover the costs of running this website. Learn more →
Fear of the dentist, also known as dental fear, dental anxiety or dental phobia, is a common problem for many people. I have encountered this many times in my practice, and unfortunately it can be difficult to find comprehensive advice on how to deal with it.
The worst thing about dental anxiety is that it often turns an irrational fear into a really difficult experience. Many dental practices take the time to address the needs of an anxious patient whenever possible.
But avoiding dental disease can lead to problems with your mouth and overall health. In addition, in the long run, it costs more to correct uncontrolled dental problems than to treat them preventively.
When Do Babies Go To The Dentist?
Here, I discuss evidence-based strategies for coping with dental anxiety, as well as specific tips for children and people with special needs in the dental chair.
Our database of functional service providers includes dentists, hygienists and myofunctional therapists from over 50 regions worldwide and growing.[/callout-quiz]
If you purchase a product from the link below, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read our advertising policy here.
10 insider dental care secrets free to download to your inbox, plus a free weekly dental health consultation when you sign up
Dental Anxiety Management: How Interior Design Can Help
Most people who experience dental anxiety have had a bad experience at the dentist. However, this is not the only reason for this fear.
It is important to distinguish that dental anxiety and dental phobia are slightly different. There is no clear line where they separate, but it is generally understood that “normal” dental anxiety is less severe than dental phobia.
If you have a phobia, you may experience trouble sleeping, panic attacks, nausea, crying at the thought of the dentist’s office, or trouble breathing at the thought of touching the dentist’s mouth. It is possible.
Fear of the Dentist Because of the long-term problems associated with missing dental visits, it is important to talk to your dentist to address these concerns. People with complete phobias are unlikely to overcome their fear of teeth with home remedies.
Steps For Reducing Stress & Anxiety At Work
As I mentioned, the biggest problem with ignoring your fear of the dentist is that your dental health will suffer. Even with a near-perfect diet and incredible dental hygiene routines, most people still develop hard tartar that needs to be removed to prevent cavities, gum disease, and other problems.
The cheapest and least painful method of dental treatment. Simple brushing may cause temporary tooth sensitivity, but it goes a long way in preventing painful recovery after major dental work.
Unfortunately, dental anxiety only prompts people to see the dentist when problems become symptomatic. This almost always means that some type of rehabilitation or more invasive treatment is needed. For example, tooth decay can be treated, but it is usually necessary to detect early tooth decay before it causes pain.
We’re not just talking about oral health here—gum disease, which starts with gum inflammation, can turn into a very painful condition over time. Not only does the disease and treatment cause pain, but periodontitis/gum disease is also associated with many systemic health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dental And Mental Health — How To Balance Both
Bottom line: Avoiding a visit to the dentist will make things worse in the long run. This is not to scare you too much, but to encourage you to get over your anxiety as quickly as possible.
Talk to your dentist about your concerns. Ideally, the entire dental team in the office (hygienists, dental staff, etc.) is trained to help calm anxiety, provide encouragement, and empathize.
In particular, I ask new dental patients what makes them nervous. (It’s usually easy to tell when someone is upset, so I try to be sympathetic from the start.)
These answers help me evaluate how each visit went and plan future visits based on the individual needs of my patients.
Aetiology And Management Of Dental Anxiety
Remember, if you don’t speak up, your dentist and hygienist won’t know what’s going on or how they can help.
A very effective way to help with communication is to create a “stop signal” that can be used at any point in your procedure. Whatever hand signals or other gestures you choose to make with your dentist, this signal can be used to ask your dentist or hygienist to stop if it becomes more uncomfortable
If you find a good dentist, they will help you feel at ease during your visit. They can do this with a reassuring touch on the shoulder, good eye contact, a smile and a soft voice. First and foremost, your dentist should listen and respond to any concerns that arise.
A recent development to prevent dental fear in the office is called the Sensory Adaptive Dental Environment (SDE), also known as the “Snoezelen Environment”.
Teeth Grinding Baltimore Md
In this technique, the dental office makes sure to use decorations and designs in the waiting room and treatment areas that take into account all five senses and how they are more alert or have a higher level of anxiety
This is especially helpful for pediatric dentists in general, but general considerations about how to avoid sensory stimulation during the visit can go a long way in reducing fear.
After moving away from pharmaceuticals, I started using CBD oil in my practice a few years ago.
There are no studies showing how CBD might work in dental practice, but it does seem to help reduce anxiety in general. I often advise my patients who are nervous about their appointment to apply CBD (this is the brand I use) to their teeth the day before and in the morning.