Fear of the dentist is very common with 9 to 20% of the American population avoiding dental care because their fear is so great*. The numbers in Australia are likely to be similar. The situation may be worse in other nations of the world depending on the state of dental resources and the way in which treatment is given.
That is a lot of people missing the basic care they need to keep their mouth and body healthy.
What I have noticed is that a lot of people who fear the dentist, also feel ashamed of their fear, and ashamed of the state of their mouth.
This is an awful 'cocktail' of emotions, all of which become a huge hurdle to coming in to talk to the dentist about it. This hurdle can feel impossible to get over when it goes on for a long time.
Why do people become scared?
For many people, their fear comes from a specific incident, or a number of incidents that occurred in the past. Some people tell me that their childhood dental experiences were awful. For others, something happened later (for example a difficult tooth extraction) that damaged their confidence in receiving safe and pain-free dental care.
For others, it can be a history of difficulty getting numb enough to have painless dentistry.
Some people have no recollection of anything going wrong, but they experience severe anxiety anyway.
In my case (yes, I was very scared of the dentist for most of my life), my fear came from mimicking my mum. She would be anxious for days before going to the dentist, so I 'learned' to be afraid from her. I was not able to sleep the night before going to the dentist!
What do you do if you are scared of the dentist?
What I have observed in my 31 years working as a dentist is that the best way to deal with anxiety is to talk about it. This means doing what you can to let go of the shame, which is one of the biggest inhibitors to honest conversation. It helps to ask around your friends to find the correct dentist and team - find people who are completely understanding and caring without be overly sympathetic. Sympathy overloads the whole situation and tends to make everything worse.
When you visit the dentist and their team, let them know how you feel about dental treatment. Ask them how they approach dental treatment for anxious people and how you can best work together to receive the treatment you need in the simplest and most supportive way possible. That is why I chose the picture for the article. We walk side by side to get to the destination of good dental health. It is a truly empowering experience.
Dentistry has improved in many ways to make for a lovelier experience. It will never be perfect, but with the correct approach, the hurdle of fear can be reduced to something easily stepped over - no longer a massive and insurmountable barrier to getting the care we all need.
What are your options?
At Dr Rachel Mascord we offer a number of options for people who are scared of the dentist.
A gentle pace of treatment, always giving the opportunity to rest at appropriate times and to let us know how you are feeling. For many people, this is enough. It allows them feel reassured that they will be heard and not pushed beyond their capacity to cope.
We offer nitrous oxide sedation. This can be very helpful for people who want something to 'take the edge off' their nerves without a 'hangover' effect. The costs are fairly low, with a very small rebate sometimes available through private health insurance, depending on your health fund and level of cover.
For severely anxious people, we offer intravenous sedation. For this process we engage the services of dental anaesthetists who look after your body as we (the dental team) look after your mouth. This has supported many people to receive the care they could not get any other way. You will need someone to bring you to your appointment and take you home. It will not be possible to work for the rest of the day because you will be too drowsy.
The most important part of being scared of the dentist is to avoid the scenario where you only come in for dental care in a crisis. I know this can be hard to avoid when the fear is too great, but it is a classic set-up that guarantees to keep the fear going. If it is too late, and you are scared and in pain then get the treatment you need ASAP.
But do what you can to get out of the cycle of crisis-to-crisis care. It does not work for your long term dental and physical health, and puts you at the risk of losing teeth you did not need to lose with earlier attention.
If you are scared of the dentist, call us on 8034 1456 to talk about your situation.
We have a great team at Dr Rachel Mascord who are willing to work with you to not just 'get the job done' but to do it in a way that builds your confidence in receiving dental care and builds a positive relationship between you and your mouth.
* https://www.webmd.com/oral-health/easing-dental-fear-adults
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