Do you get nervous before a trip to the dentist?
Do you experience anxiety during your dental appointments?
Have you ever cancelled or postponed a dentist appointment
because you are afraid?
Rest assured that if you are scared of visiting the dentist
you are not the only one. Statistics
suggest that one in four of us has dental phobia. This could manifest itself in feelings of
anxiety before or during a dental appointment, or at its worst it could even
prevent the individual from visiting their dentist altogether.
The most worrying repercussion of dental phobia is of course
a decline in oral health, which is why some dentists, such as St Piran Dental
Practice, are leading the way in dental sedation techniques to put nervous
patients at ease, and enable them to maintain good dental health.
Consider that a fear of the dentist can be triggered by the dread
of many individual elements that might be involved including:
- Needles
- Pain
- Anaesthetics
- Drills
- Embarrassment
As with any phobia, the individual will go to great lengths
to avoid these stimuli, which unfortunately means cancelling appointments and avoiding
oral health checks.
So what are dentists doing to support their nervous patients?
There are many ways in which those with a dental phobia can
help overcome their fears, ranging from hypnotherapy to distraction
techniques. However when the patient
requires dental treatment, sedation dentistry may be the best solution.
Dental sedation not only eliminates the fear and anxiety
that patients may feel prior to their appointment – but it also enables the
dentist to carry out treatment effectively, without worrying about putting
their patient under any undue stress.
This can also mean more complex treatments can be completed in less
appointments than would be required if the patient was not under sedation.
There are different methods of sedation available depending
on your particular requirements, including inhalation sedation, Intravenous
(IV) sedation or oral sedation. Your dentist will explain these in more depth
and choose the best option for your needs.
For those of you who have experienced feelings of anxiety
when visiting a dentist, it can be very reassuring to know that your dental
team specialise in alleviating these concerns, and have tried and tested
methods of overcoming your fears to carry out vital dental treatments.
Are there any other uses for sedation dentistry?
It isn’t only nervous patients who will benefit from being
sedated when undergoing dental treatments but also those who have particularly
sensitive teeth. These patients can
relax knowing their treatments will be carried out without any pain or
discomfort during their appointment.
If you’d like to find out more about dental sedation or how
some dentists, like St Piran Dental Practice, put nervous patients at ease please
visit their website.
