Coping with Dental Anxiety and Fear

Oral health is considered as one of the most crucial aspects of your overall health. It is essential to follow good oral habits and visit your dentist regularly, but this could sometimes be accompanied by a fear or phobia. Fear of visiting a dentist has been clinically termed dentophobia or odontophobia. 

However, the New Bern dental office is well equipped with recent technological advancements that enable dentists to create a friendly atmosphere to ease patient anxiety and fear.

Common dental fears

Someone with dentophobia may be afraid of the following that could trigger dental fear:

• Dentist: There may be negative feelings associated with your dentist, especially if you had a bad experience in the past. 
• Embarrassment: Fear of being embarrassed about your tooth condition.
• Modeling: Hearing someone else discuss their dental fear can spark the same phobia in you. 
• Anesthetic (numbing drug): You may fear the needle prick during the administration of anesthesia. Sometimes side effects of anesthesia such as temporary numbness of the lips, can also trigger fear. 
• Blood: You may panic or feel anxious due to the fear of blood (hemophobia), due to bleeding during dental procedures. 
• Dental instruments: Dental instruments like fillers, scalers, or drills could instill fear in you. 
• Dental pain: Dental procedures may be accompanied by pain and discomfort that could cause anxiety. 
• Noise: Sound or noise produced by drills and dental instruments during the procedure.
• Smell: You may become anxious due to the smell of dental cement. 

Tips to overcome dental anxiety

Dental anxiety and fear can be completely overwhelming. However, it is crucial to overcome this fear since maintaining good oral health through regular dental visits is important. Here are some tips to help you cope:

• Ask a friend or a loved one to accompany you during your dental visits. 
• Inform your dentist about your fear and keep them in the loop, so that your dentist can manage your fears effectively. 
• Visit your dentist during a less busy time of the day, preferably during the morning hours. This ensures less noise from other dental instruments and machines. 
• Bring noise-blocking headphones, earbuds, or earphones with music to help you calm down. 
• Practice deep breathing relaxation techniques to lower your anxiety levels. 
• Use throat sprays to control the gag reflex. 
• Use hand signals during the procedure to signal your dentist when to stop the procedure when you feel anxious.

Bottom-line  

Dental anxiety and fear is a real and common problem. But there are several methods to overcome this fear since regular dental visits are important for good oral health. However, it requires patience and consistency to gradually win over your fear to a point where you no longer avoid getting the oral care you need.