Overcoming Dental Anxiety Part 1: Changing Dental Norms
Clowns, spiders, heights, dentists. We know that dental anxiety is pretty up there on everyone’s lists of fears and phobias. But we feel that the visit to the dentist can be, and should be, a better experience.
Phobias or fear of the dentist is very real and experienced by many Australians. In a study by the Australian Dental Journal revealed that around 16% of us experience high dental fear.
When someone experiences dental fear, they are more likely to have missing teeth. They are also more likely to prolong time between dental visits.
This is of great concern to us as many severe dental problems can be tackled easily if it is detected early on.
Therefore, we want to help switch this terrible perception of dental visits around! One of our goals at Whitehorse Dental is to help you overcome any anxieties and fears you have of visiting the dentist.
Causes of Dental Anxiety
Dental anxiety and phobias can arise for many reasons.
- Terrible experience with dental pain when younger
- “Burn out” from too many previous dental procedures
- Having a history of bad teeth and “giving up” on further dental treatments
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of pain
- Not feeling in control of situation or your own body
- Uncomfortable/vulnerable feeling of someone hovering above you
- Afraid of injections
Alleviating Dental Anxiety
At Whitehorse Dental, we want to re-establish the new norm that going to the dentist isn’t a major ordeal.
In fact, your dental visit is very simple with minimal pain and fuss.
To minimise pain, our practice uses modern technology that makes most dental visits painless or with minimal discomfort.
To reduce the weird unknown when work is being done to your teeth, we communicate to you what’s about to happen and what you’re about to feel.
We find this is simple, yet effective as it gives patients time to mentally prepare for the sensations to come.
Preventative Dentistry
On the road to eliminating dental anxiety, we believe in equipping you with the right information for preventative dental care.
What this means is that after your dental visit with us, we give you the best knowledge on simple things you can do at home to take care of your teeth.
Seeing your teeth once every 6-12 months will help us detect any potential problems very early on.
If we can help prevent your teeth getting new problems in the future, your dental visits will become effortless!
Got any questions about your dental fears and anxiety? Email one of our friendly dentists at Whitehorse Dental in Blackburn.
