5 Tips to Overcome Dental Anxiety

9 out of 10 people suffer from some form of dental anxiety. The reasons for dental anxieties can be many but the most common ones are related to traumatic dental experiences of the past, particularly more so from emergency dental care. Today dental care procedures, thanks to science and technology, has evolved by leaps and bounds. Not only are present day dental procedures safe and painless, but sedation dentistry procedures have also become very effective and time-bound.

However, in case you still carry that anxious dental nerve with you, here are 5 tips to overcome as well as manage your dental anxieties:

1. Open Up About Needle Fears:

This is a particular reason for dental anxiety in children and even some adults. A good first step to manage anxieties by sharing your uneasiness with your dentist and the support staff. Most people prevent themselves from sharing their fears at the thought of being ridiculed or made fun off. But remember that your family, as well as the dentist, are your well-wishers. They can help exceedingly in managing and even getting over your needle fears.

2. Remember! A Bad Experience is A Blue Moon: A traumatic past experience is another big reason for many people keeping themselves at a safe distance from the dentist chair. But this is a bad judgment to make based on a singular event. Today there is a whole range of certified and tested numbing gels and sedation procedures that make even invasive dental procedures painless.

3. Let Imperfections Not Discourage You:

At times we may be too embarrassed about the state of our teeth and as such visiting a dental clinic may become an Everest of a task. However, one must bear in mind that a dentist sees far severe imperfections and hence he must be the last person that one must be embarrassed about.

4. Practice Relaxation Techniques:

Our mind plays its own little games. Hence it is important that we practice yoga and other breathing techniques for relaxing our mind. Yoga gives us many breathing techniques for relaxing the agitated and anxious mind. These techniques are proven to be effective methods to overcome not only dental anxieties but other forms of anxieties too.

5. Ask Someone to Accompany You To The Dentist:

If going alone makes someone's feet turn cold, the best thing is to take a family member or request a friend/colleague for company. This will help keep the mind occupied and help considerably in relaxing.

While the patients can do their best bit to overcome dental fears, dentists are also trying their best by getting into the patient's shoes and understanding their plight up close and personal. St John Dental has been exemplary in this regard. Dentists now are waking up to the idea that pain stimulus varies from patients to patients. It is important to help them relax by lending a caring ear to their fears and requests. In fact, there have been constant efforts to improve chair experiences through relaxation music, on-request break times, etc. Overall, all efforts are directed to make the experience fulfilling and the least painful.