Dental Fear Management
Silverdale, WA
Dental Fear Management provided by Dr. Kasey Gillespie, DDS
in Silverdale, WA at Life Long Dental
 Some people tend to hyperventilate, shake, and get scared when they know that they have to visit the dentist on that day. Others may get a headache and nausea or vomiting. The kind of fear they experience is directly associated with general dentist settings. Dental fear is believed to relate to the thought of needles, drills, or the dental office in general, resulting in delay or avoidance of dental treatment. At Life Long Dental, we understand the reality of dental fear. We give you the following information to help alleviate your fears when you visit our practice.
What Is Dental Fear?
Dental fear or anxiety is an adaptive emotional response to a scheduled dental visit, especially when an individual considers the situation as potentially threatening. Often, dental fear presents itself before, during, and after dental treatment. Dental fear manifests as an increase in heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and cardiac output, and for some, it can be extremely severe, leading to complete avoidance of a scheduled dental treatment and multiple failed appointments.
The Prevalence of Dental Fear
In the United States, about 50 percent to 80 percent of adults experience some fear when visiting the dentist. Worse still, dental fear affects everyone. It can affect a patient who has not been to the dentist in 20 years or a child who is going to the dentist for the first time. Some cases of dental fear are so intense that the patient abandons their dental appointment and treatment altogether.
What Causes Dental Fear?
Understanding the cause of your dental fear can help you determine the best way to alleviate that fear. Here are some common causes of dental fear.
Human Biology
Humans are not prone to pain, and any situation that promises a painful experience can generate a fight-or-flight response. The thought of pain under the care of a dentist might be responsible for triggering dental anxiety. A person exhibiting extreme fear before going into the dental office is exhibiting the biological response of flight or avoidance. Eventually, the manifestation of pain requires a patient to reschedule the visit or ignore the visit altogether.
Negative Dental Experiences in the Past
Patients can experience extreme fear when they remember what happened in the dental office during a previous visit. The thought of going through similar discomfort or pain is enough to cause some people intense fear. Some experiences that can trigger dental fear include a procedure that took longer than expected, a dental procedure that caused too much pain, or a dental mistake that can make one reluctant to get back to the dental chair.
Dental Stereotypes
In the past, popular media has been accused of not portraying dental offices in a positive light. Television shows are essentially works of art and have very little truth in them. Still, some people tend to get all their information from popular media. When their source of information negatively portrays something, they get a negative message, and they are bound to be afraid of visiting a dentist.
Dental Fear Management
When you exhibit extreme fear following a scheduled dental visit, our dentist will help you overcome your fears using any of the below strategies. We want your visit to be calm and relaxed.
Anxiety Relieving Medication
Our dentist might recommend oral anxiety-relieving medications to help you relax. The medications available for such purposes act only for a short period and are meant to be taken once only, usually an hour before your dental appointment.
Leverage Digital Dentistry
Our dentist understands how important it is for anxious patients to feel comfortable and at ease. That is why we utilize the latest digital dentistry techniques to provide quick, stress-free visits. With advanced technology, many dental procedures and impressions can be completed in a minute or less.
Conscious Sedation
Our dentist can also suggest that you be consciously sedated if your dental fear is extreme enough to prevent any form of dental care from proceeding. To help you relax, our dentist will place a drip into the vein of your arm or hand. The medication will help you relax, and you may drift off into a light sleep, giving the dentist enough time to complete any dental procedure scheduled for the day without fear standing in the way of care.
General Anesthesia
Our dentist may also suggest general anesthesia as a strategy to help you manage your dental fear. Unlike other dental fear management strategies, general anesthesia will put you to sleep fully during the dental procedure. This is considered a last resort and only for the most intense types of dental procedures.
How To Manage Your Dental Fear
Our dental practice has several known strategies that help our patients to calm their fears. Some of these strategies include:
Be Honest and Open about Your Fears
The easiest and most effective way to manage dental fear is through open and honest communication. It means trusting our dental team enough to express your fears and asking them to help you manage those fears. Our dental team will take you over every aspect of the treatment, which removes that fear of the unknown from the equation. You will feel informed and in charge of the situation and less anxious about the entire procedure.
Find Some Distraction
Distraction is a strategy that also helps manage dental fear, especially for young children. Even as an adult, you can get distracted by watching an interesting television program that faces the dental chair, which puts your mind off what is going on inside your mouth. You can also listen to calming music or an interesting podcast through earbuds to keep you distracted and less afraid.
Schedule Early Appointments
If your dental appointment is at 3 pm in the afternoon, you might spend the entire day worrying about it, and you will be overly fearful by the time you arrive at our practice. We can help you make an early appointment. When you wake up, head to our practice and get the procedure over and done with before you have any time to mull over it in your head.
Dental Fear Management With Us
Dental fear affects anyone, and you do not have to allow that fear to stand in the way of getting necessary dental care. Visit us today at Life Long Dental to talk about your dental anxiety and how we can help you get through the fear. Contact us today at (360) 633-2377 to schedule an appointment. |
