Sunday, November 1, 2009

Discussing Fear and Anxiety with Your Dentist

It's no secret that going to the dentist is consistently ranked as one of the things most feared by people, sometimes listed higher than public speaking or even death. I've heard many different stories from our patients over the years about dental experiences that caused them a great deal of pain or left them feeling traumatized for life. Often these were procedures they had done as children, and the memories still conjure up anxiety, in many cases so much so that certain parts of the dental experience trigger an overwhelming sense of terror or a 'fight or flight' type of response. This could include arriving at the office, getting in the chair, or seeing the instruments on the table. It often results in a vicious cycle of avoiding the dentist until something is seriously wrong and extensive work is needed, leading to even more anxiety and causing the person to think 'This is why I hate going to the dentist in the first place!'

Regardless of your level of anxiety about receiving dental care, you can be sure that a caring dentist will be happy to discuss the things that are unpleasant for you, and would prefer to know about them so they can do their best to minimize their impact on you. Many people feel embarrassed or guilty and feel the need to apologize for what are often uncontrollable responses that come from their fear and anxiety. The first thing to realize is that your fears, whatever they may be, are completely normal and are probably shared by many others just like you. Your dentist has almost certainly heard a story similar to yours at least once and is there to help you have better experiences moving forward. We really do want to make you as comfortable as possible, and our profession as a whole has more tools than ever before at our disposal to do this. We know that these triggers are different for everyone, and something that really frightens one person may just annoy someone else but isn't even noticed by another. Some people are more comfortable being able to ask many questions about a procedure (this is always allowed and highly recommended if you are interested) while others would prefer to know as little as possible about the details. Knowing as much about your past experiences allows us as dentists to try to tailor your dental experience to your individual triggers and emotions. This type of open discussion can do wonders for improving how you feel about the dentist! But beyond discussion dentistry has many other tools we can offer to make your experience a better one; these are often grouped together into what is called 'sedation dentistry'... (more on this in the next post)

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