Dealing with Dental Anxiety

Regular dental visits are important for maintaining healthy teeth and gums, but being scared or anxious to visit the dentist can result in delaying or avoiding dental treatment. Things like needles, drills, or the dental setting, in general, can trigger these emotions and people of any age can be affected by it.

Avoiding the dentist can result in dental disease getting worse, a greater need for emergency care, or more complex treatment. It can also feed the underlying problem of dental anxiety, causing a ‘’vicious cycle’’ of dental anxiety.

There are several common reasons that cause these negative feelings of anxiety such as fear of pain or fear of needles. There are other more dense reasons such as fear of loss of control, trust issues, past traumatic dental experience, and fear of invasion of personal space. Whatever your reason is, there are ways to cope with these emotions and help you overcome them in order to keep in order your dental health.

Speaking up and asking questions is a good way of understanding the procedures more and stop fearing them. Also, looking for any way of distraction that does not interfere with the doctor’s work can help keep your mind out of it. Wearing earphones, listening to music or a podcast will distract yourself from any drill sound, or having something to squeeze in your hands can help too.

Severe dental anxiety may require other techniques such as relative analgesia, also known as happy gas, anxiety-relieving medication, conscious sedation, or general anesthesia. These methods need to be approved by the doctor and medication needs to be prescribed by an expert.

Here at Smile Builders, we are always seeking our patient’s comfort and trust, so talking to our doctors about your fear or anxiety can be the best way to deal with it step by step. We will look for the best options that suit your case and give you the best dental experience we can offer. Contact us or visit our location in Tijuana, Mexico for more information or to schedule your dental appointment anytime.