More often than not, we have heard of patients who get anxious any time they have to visit the dentist huntersville nc and as a result affect their overall health. For most patients, these fear are due to bad experiences that may have happened before although a significant percentage have fears of future possibilities where something goes wrong in the future. All in all, fear of the dentist can be a symptom of bigger anxiety issues and affected individuals should see professionals and deal with it before it develops into other serious problems.
Common fears at the dental clinic.
- The fear of needles.
This is one of the fears not specific to dental patients alone but cuts across many other medical fields. Statistically, about 1 in every 5 individuals has some needle phobia and talking to the doctor about it is vital so that they figure out ways to deal with the situation and make you more comfortable.
- The associated pain.
If a patient had a bad experience with pain during a previous dental procedure, they are likely to develop some fear of a repeated occurrence. However, with the effective anesthetics that are available for various dental treatments, the pain can be significantly reduced making the experience bearable and better than the previous one.
- Fear of drills and embarrassment of bad teeth.
Most patients are fearful of the drill sound considering there is very minimal pain as a result of the numbing medicine and anesthetics that are used on various procedures. It is advisable to listen to music via your headphones if the sound is troubling you or request earplugs before the procedure if you don’t have any earphones. When it comes to the embarrassment of bad teeth, it is always good to know that given the dentist’s line of work, they have most likely seen teeth that are worse than yours and you should not be ashamed of who you are.
Various ways through which you can overcome these dental fears and anxiety.
It is important to acknowledge that these fears may affect the quality of life and prevent you from getting your much-needed treatments if not addressed. You should, therefore, make a point to seek relevant treatments and a few that can be used in getting over such fears include;
- Identification of the exact fear which makes you avoid dental clinics. Once it’s clear what issues you should deal with you can then start working towards a suitable solution.
- You should always take your time and choose a dentist who listens to you, your fears are likely to increase if you choose a dentist that is not right for you but you may get comfortable if the dentist is more accommodative and listens to you.
- Request the dentist to be sedated during the procedure if you feel it may be helpful for the procedure to go smoothly.
- You should as well try to learn about the various ways that help reduce anxiety such as breathing techniques, meditation, etc. to help combat the fear of getting treatment
- Above all, considering these fears may be symptoms of bigger issues, you should book appointments with professionals such as therapists to get their expert assistance of how you can deal with the issue once and for all instead of having to psych up yourself each time you are required to go in for a dentist’s appointment.
