Overcoming Dental Phobia: Tips and Techniques

When visiting your Dentist in North Strathfield, we pride ourselves on creating a comfortable and safe environment for all of our patients and visitors. So, we understand when people are facing Dental Anxiety.

Dental anxiety is more than just feeling nervous to visiting the dentist, it can significantly impact your oral health. In fact, a phobia for visiting the dentist is more common than you think. It is faced by many individuals and unfortunately avoidance of dental care. Why is this so important to address? Well, recognizing and addressing dental anxiety can be one step closer to receiving crucial dental care and is key to maintaining good oral hygiene.

Jan 12

Understanding this fear and discovering effective ways to cope with it is essential for both patients and dentists. Let’s discuss the impacts of dental anxiety and some ways to find relief.

Impact of dental anxiety:

1. Avoidance: Those who suffer from dental anxiety often struggle to book appointments with the dentist and sometimes if they do, they will postpone, reschedule, or cancel the appointment all together. Avoidance can lead to untreated oral health issues.
2. Habits: Anxiety does not only keep those who suffer from attending their visits, there is a possibility that one may neglect their daily oral health care routines such as brushing and flossing. This can increase the risk of dental problems.
3. Increased Severity: The dentist is the place where we can catch oral health problems early on and prevent them from getting worse. Avoidance can increase the severity of oral health issues and may cause more extensive and expensive treatments.

As your Dentist in Concord, we understand it may be hard to book that appointment, however, it is heavily advised to see us at our clinic! Avoiding the dentist can prevent you from maintaining good oral health and lead to more serious outcomes such as tooth decay, nerve involvement/damage, jaw joint (TMJ) disorders, sleep apnea, and oral cancer.

To face anxiety needs to come from a place of acknowledgement and understanding. We may find that our anxiety is a combination of several factors: fear of pain, embarrassment about oral health, or trauma from a previous dental or medical experience.

If this sounds relatable, here are some quick tips to help deal with your anxiety:

1. Choice of Dental Clinic: It’s always best to find clinics that are experienced in dealing with dental anxiety. Dr Kia and our staff at Distinct Dental Centre are attentive, gentle, and pride themselves in being good and active listeners. Let us know how you’re feeling prior to your appointment, this way we will be able to accommodate you comfortably!
2. Arrive Early: Rushing to an appointment can cause unnecessary stress. We suggest leaving earlier to give yourself time to take it slow.
3. Communication: We are here to provide high-quality care for you! Openly communicate your feelings to us so we can accommodate you in a way that makes you feel relaxed and comfortable.
4. Exposure: Visiting us regularly can build up your exposure to visits. Start simply by seeing us for consultations and then check-ups in order to slowly build up to more extensive treatments (if required!). This will help familiarize you with the practice and the friendly faces you will see every visit!
5. Techniques: We advise researching some relaxation techniques such as deep-breathing or visualization. Hopefully, these will help manage your anxiety before and during your appointments.
6. Distractions: We have a TV on our room ceiling with all of your favourite streaming sites and shows, we will ask you your favourite things to watch. Let us know what you enjoy, and we can pop it on for you! We also have a cuddly panda bear if you need a friend to squeeze on for comfort.
7. Medication and/or Happy Gas: If you prefer to see us using external factors such as anti-anxiety medication or Happy Gas, we are delighted to offer it if you need it! You can find more information on it here.

If you have dental anxiety, we are here to help you! As your Dentist in North Strathfield, we will be sure to take extra care to ensure you feel comfortable before, during, and after your appointment. Let us know how you feel before seeing us, this way we can extend your appointment time to fit in a few extra minutes to make you comfortable.