An overwhelming and unreasonable fear to receive
dental care is known as “Dental Phobia”. 25% of British population
suffer from fear and anxiety before they see a dentist according to one
survey by the British Dental Association. Different people experience
varying degrees of dental fear from mild to severe. As a result these
people try to avoid to receive dental care and often risk their oral
health badly.
CAUSES
1. Previous Bad Personal
Experiences; This is the most common cause why people develop dental
phobias. A previous traumatic and /or painful dental experience leads to
the development of such phobias. In addition uncaring, unkind attitude
of the dentist lacking sympathy can add on to the development of a
dental phobia.
2. Some people develop it after hearing stories from other individuals who have gone through a traumatic dental experience.
3. Perception of lack of control during the procedure leads to development of helplessness and eventually fear.
4.
Sometimes previous bad experiences with doctors other than dentists may
enhance the fear when people come under hospital environment for a
dental procedure.
SIMPLE WAYS TO OVERCOME DENTAL PHOBIA
You can try some very simple ways
to overcome your phobia, but the first step in doing this is to find out
what exactly is bothering you. Just relax and think what is it making
you anxious. Is it the fear of the diagnosis you will
get, fear of pain, needles, drills or is it the feeling of being
powerless during a procedure unable to help yourself and stop the
procedure if it becomes painful. You should also bear in mind that
dentists are specialized doctors specifically trained to deal with
nervous patients and that you may not be one of the most nervous
patients that they have dealt with, they may have been through countless
more complicated scenarios than yours.
1. Know Your Dentist Better:
Try to make few visits before the actual surgery. This builds up your
confidence in your dentist. Feel free to discuss your fears and your
concerns with your dentist beforehand and try to build a healthy and
trusting relationship. Ask him/her to explain to you the whole procedure
in a stepwise manner so your mind knows what is coming up next and
hence stays relaxed.
2. Set A Stop Signal: The most fearful thing is
that you don’t know if you will be able to stop the procedure if it
becomes too painful. Talk about it beforehand and make sure that your
dentist completely understands how you feel and will go slow at a pace
you can tolerate.
3. Distraction: Find some ways to distract yourself on the day of surgery. A soft , soothing music may help a lot to keep you calm.
4. Counseling:
Perhaps the most effective way of overcoming a phobia. It involves
sitting down with a therapist and talk and while talking you view and
learn to co-op with your feared object or situation differently. You may
try Desensitization, in which repeated gradual exposure
to the situation you fear helps to conquer your anxiety for example you
may try and sit in a dental chair a couple of times before your actual
surgery day to find out how it feels. This may help a lot when you
actually sit in the chair for surgery and find yourself relaxed.
So it is not too difficult to overcome your dental
phobia and obviously if these simple measures don’t work there are some
pharmacological therapies to overcome the fear and anxiety which can be
recommended if needed but please bear in mind whatever you do please do
not neglect your dental health just because of your fears, after all
your smile matters!
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