Dentist Anxiety - Overcoming Your Fears
Approximately fifteen percent of
the population in the United States suffers from dentist anxiety, also called
dental phobia. It is not a made up phobia but as with other phobias, it is
actually based on irrational fears but there are ways to overcome this phobia.
For some, this phobia is
debilitating. It can cause people to skip dental checkups like having dental fillings or even not go to the dentist at all.
Causes of dentist anxiety
• Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) or anxiety disorder-there are some that suffer from PTSD or
general anxiety disorder and having dentist phobia is just one of their many
fears they suffer from.
• Abusive history-if
someone has a history of being a victim of emotional or sexual abuse they may
associate similar fears with they are under the care of an authority figure,
like the dentist. Even though there is no incidents of abuse the dentist may
appear abusive to them, especially if it is a stern dentist.
Ways to overcome dentist
anxiety
• Choose your dentist-look
for a dentist that will accept your anxiety. Do not just go to a dental clinic
or pick a dentist out of the phone book. You can also ask family and friends if
they know a compassionate dentist. If the dentist seems to brush off your
anxiety or does not seem to care, look for another dentist in Windsor for teeth
whitening.
• Using sedation-if you
are unable to sit without fearing the worst the dentist may prescribe or
suggest sedation. This can be oral, inhalation, or intravenous (IV) sedation
before any treatment. You may have to bring someone along to drive you home as
you may be advised by the emergency dentist in Windsor not to
drive for a few hours to give the sedation time to wear off.
• General anesthesia-there
is cases where dentist anxiety is severe or with young children, this may be
used for difficult dental procedures such as a root canal or tooth
extraction. It has to be done under extreme caution and is often used as a last
resort of sedation is not working.
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