What is Dental Anxiety & Dental Phobia? – Dental Anxiety Treatment

It is common to feel worried about an important appointment with the dentist, but it is not normal for this to impact your quality of life, decisions about your health or your ability to receive treatment. For those suffering extreme dental anxiety, also known as dental phobia, your fear might even make it too hard to make it to a normal dental check-up! – Dental Anxiety Treatment.

Unfortunately, these feelings of dental anxiety can become ingrained over time and some sufferers feel ‘trapped’. This can lead to neglect for your smile, and the guilt that follows can contribute to your anxiety even further.

However, not all dental anxiety & dental phobia is the same. There’s a spectrum – from mild anxiety to severe phobia – and the techniques to manage these different degrees of fear are varied. So, where should you start on your journey to overcoming dental anxiety? 

Signs and symptoms of dental anxiety

People with dental anxiety may experience-sweating

• racing heartbeat (tachycardia) or palpitations
• low blood pressure and possible fainting (syncope)
• visible distress, crying or signs of panic
• withdrawal, or using humour or aggression to mask anxiety
• Some anxious patients will routinely miss dental appointments, and may find it difficult to undergo dental treatment regardless of whether it is simple or complex 

Management of dental anxiety

The etiology for dental anxiety is multifactorial, and hence there is no monotherapy for management. Proper evaluation of the patient and identifying their source and level of anxiety can enable the dentist in deciding a proper treatment plan. Anxiety can be triggered by even the most innocuous situations, such as the encounter with the receptionist while scheduling their appointments or clinic ambience, and thus it is essential that every aspect of the dental practice be appropriate.

We understand how important it is to make the patient feel comfortable and ease all the anxiety. Thus, we have designed the clinic in such a way that there are no visual or olfactory triggers. In fact we are the only clinic in India to use BACH FLOWER THERAPY AND REIKI to control dental Fear. Dr. Harleen Gandhi Kalsi is a Reiki level 2 healer.

Management in children

In managing children with dental anxiety, we use the following:

• Allocate enough time for appointment.
• Communicate effectively.
• Utilize the four “s” principle by reducing triggers of stress. These are sight of injections, handpieces, and blood; smell of materials such as eugenol; sound of drilling or other patients crying; and sensation of vibrating instruments.
• Distract the patient using music, video.
• Give a sense of control over the procedure by involving the patient during treatment, like to raise hand when feeling pain or uncomfortable.
• Reduce pain by giving enough anesthesia.
• Provision of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
• Provision of relaxation therapy for older children that will assist patients to gain control over their psychological state. The techniques can be given before and even during the procedure. These may include Jacobsen’s progressive muscular relaxation, paced breathing techniques.
• In highly anxious patients who could not do any of the psychotherapeutics, pharmacotherapy may be indicated such as:
• Conscious sedation technique, whereby drugs are provided to render an anxious patient to a depressive state. The routes of application can be oral, sublingual, intramuscular, rectal, and in dental setting with enough resources, intravenous administration, or inhalation using nitrous oxide (N2O) gas.
• When the above techniques do not help, the practitioner can refer the patient to a specialist psychologist for further management or can resort to general anesthesia if equipment and trained personnel are available. 

Treatments

Mild fears over seeing the dentist are best remedied by going to the dentist instead of avoiding it. In the case of significant dental work, you may ask to be sedated so you’re not awake during the procedure. However, if you have a true phobia, the act of going to the dentist is much easier said than done. Like other phobias, dentophobia may be tied to an anxiety disorder, which may require a combination of therapies and medications.

Call 9625 678 787 to speak to us how we can best control your anxiety. You can schedule a telephonic consultation before appointment in the clinic.