The fear of the dentist it is a more common fact than it seems. Not a few people have spent years without stepping on the dentist's office, because just thinking about it generates anxiety. It is a vicious circle in which the avoidance of dental treatment leads to a deterioration of dental health, with loss of teeth, and this to a feeling of guilt and more anxiety that reinforces, often out of shame, the attitude of avoiding going to the dentist.
But what is it that generates fear of the dentist? In many cases it is pain - reinforced by previous bad experiences, especially in children; or anesthesia punctures; in others the fact of the uncomfortable posture, keeping the mouth open and having many devices inserted into it; also the uncertainty about what they are going to do to him; and, why not say it, the economic cost that it may entail.
Dentists are very aware of the fear their patients feel when they go to the office and are trained to face it. But what can the patients themselves do to avoid it? The experts make some recommendations in this regard:
Before going
- Identify the reason for fear: it is important to reflect on the causes of your own fear of the dentist and analyze them with ease.
- Information: Often times, going to a dental clinic and requesting information can help answer questions. It also allows you to know where you can go and see how patients who leave the office do it with ease.
- Find a trusted dentist or clinic: You can ask friends and family who visit the dentist regularly, so they can recommend one and tell you about their experience. You can even visit the clinic before making an appointment to see if it inspires confidence. You can talk to the receptionist, ask for information and even recommend one of the clinic professionals, explaining that you feel fear of the dentist.
- To ask for time: The earlier the appointment time, the fewer opportunities you will have to back down.
- Mentally prepare: Once the decision is made, you must avoid any focus of anxiety or stress. It is best to go out, take a walk, talk to friends ...
- Ask a friend or family member to come with you: being accompanied reinforces the decision to go to the dentist and facilitates distraction during waiting.
- The first visit: The first consultation of the dentist is usually a review that will result in a treatment plan, so there will be no punctures or painful acts. However, before going you should define everything you want to ask taking into account your own fears.
In consultation
- Say it when you get to the consultation: no shame for feeling fear of the dentist. Quite the contrary. In some clinics there are dentists who specialize in fear patients.
- While waiting: it is best to abstract. If the conversation is accompanied, it will allow you to distract yourself and not think about what is to come. If you go alone, it is best to try to distract yourself by reading, listening to music, doing crossword puzzles ...
- Talk to the dentist: It is important to speak to the dentist, as he is most interested in patients overcoming fear. He knows how to reassure them. For example, you can make a signal when a pause is needed during treatment, or ask him to explain every step of what he does.
- Before leaving, more information: As already indicated, the first consultation is usually an in-depth review in which the dentist identifies the problems that must be corrected and defines a treatment plan that will inform you in detail. It is time to renew all questions about the procedures to be performed. If the fear is of pain, you have to ask about sedation. If the fear is of the economic cost, you will have to ask about possible offers, forms of payment, etc. It is important to leave the consultation with all the doubts resolved.
It is normal for the fear of the dentist It lasts after the first consultation, especially if the treatment plan (curettage, extractions, orthodontia, etc.) is taken into account, which will require successive visits, according to an order of priorities. From now on information is important. But with a different perspective. More than how it is done, if it can hurt or not, we must try to think about the benefit that will be obtained from the treatment: good oral health, fewer problems in the medium and long term, even fewer visits to the dentist, except those indicated for dental checkups and cleaning.
