Fear of the Dentist: How to Overcome Dentophobia

Fear of the dentist is not uncommon, for many people going to the dentist has become an obsessive fear.

At the very thought, your heart starts to beat faster and you can already smell the specific smell of medicines and the doctor's office?

This is a subconscious reaction that can be rooted in adults since the time when there were no effective painkillers and anesthetics, and dental treatment methods were quite primitive and painful. In order to overcome your fear of the dentist, you need to replace negative impressions with positive ones, and this can be achieved with just one visit and examination in a modern, well-equipped clinic by friendly dentists who understand you.

Good news - by reading this text and being on our page - you have already taken the first step in the fight against your fear!

Bravo! 

Dentist phobia - What is Dentophobia?

Toothache is considered one of the most severe pains and it is impossible to deal with it without a doctor. By postponing a visit to the dentist, the patient often only worsens the situation.

Dentophobia or phobia of the dentist is the fear of contact with the dentist and the visit to the dental office itself. The cause of a phobia is usually an emotional upheaval. At the same time, any, the most harmless procedure, causes a subconscious reaction, which manifests itself in somatic disorders, up to the loss of consciousness.

Abstract advice on how to stop being afraid of the dentist and overcome fear will not help in this case. We will have to determine the type and source of fear and deal with it purposefully.

Types of dental phobia

There are 3 types of fear of the dentist, depending on the appearance and symptoms:

• Innate fear; The rarest and most difficult to correct. It is based on a general fear of medical procedures, from examinations to tests.

• Acquired fear; It is observed in most people who have a negative experience in treatment and extraction of teeth. The disorder can be treated, but first you need to understand the causes of the phobia and understand how to overcome the fear of the dentist - on your own or with the help of a psychologist.

• Imaginary fear; This type of fear is more common in children. In this case, the patients have never been to the doctor, but they have come up with many horror stories about it that they themselves are afraid of. In adults, imaginary phobia develops after a long delay in visiting the dentist. But this problem is the easiest to solve. It is enough to visit a qualified specialist in a relaxed atmosphere and the fear disappears.

Possible reasons for fear of the dentist

Many people will give you different advice when they hear you say, "I'm afraid of the dentist, but I don't know what to do." Most of these tips can be effective, but the problem is that they do not take into account the specifics of the cause of your fear. In order to successfully overcome the fear of the dentist, it is necessary to find the main cause.

They are most often:

• high sensitivity of the oral cavity to any manipulation, which leads to a subconscious expectation of severe pain;

• recent negative experience;

• panic attacks are regularly manifested in people with hormonal disorders;

• gag reflex when looking at dental instruments;

• irrational fear of infection through mirrors and probes;

• fear of needing a course of treatment;

• psychological trauma from childhood.

In order to understand how to overcome the fear of the dentist, try to analyze your state when you think about visiting the office and find the pain point that causes the appearance of negative emotions. By understanding where the source of fear lies, you can look for ways to deal with increased anxiety.

It means that you are afraid of the dentist

Regardless of the form of dental phobia, the symptoms are almost the same. The main ones are reflex muscle tension, increased sweating, increased heart rate at the mention of the clinic or the need to see a doctor. Depending on the individual characteristics of the psyche, dilated pupils for no apparent reason, mild tremors of the limbs, diarrhea and increased blood pressure are observed.

How to overcome fear of the dentist

Dentophobia refers to painful conditions. A person is really sick on a physical level and here persuasion is necessary. The earlier the problem is recognized, the more successful and faster the correction will be. It is recommended to use a combined approach, where medical support at the level of sedation is combined with other methods of stabilizing peace of mind.

But remember that the use of any drug should be under the supervision of a doctor.

Holistic Remedies

The saying that all diseases originate in the brain is true, and this also applies to people who are afraid of the dentist. The psychological component causes physiological disorders. It doesn't matter which form of fear dominates, in any case, our main task is to normalize the emotional state. There are many recipes in the arsenal of herbalists to reduce anxiety. Herbal preparations have a beneficial and complex effect on the body and have a minimum of contraindications.

The most effective herbs that allow you to restore peace of mind are:

• Chamomile

• John's wort

• Lavender

• Melissa officinalis

• Mint

• Oregano

• Valerian

• Ginseng

• Hawthorn

What you need to know to overcome fear

Fear is a normal reaction to a real or imagined threat, you should not be ashamed of it. Courage lies in containing fear, not in denying it. It is possible to translate the paralyzing horror into mild excitement, but this must be done gradually and systematically.

Trying to convince yourself that everything is fine 10 minutes before going to the clinic will cause the phobia to worsen.

Therefore, start preparing a week before the visit. An excellent solution for starting the fight against fear can be the online examination that our clinic offers you. In this way, your treatment process will begin, without the need to come to the doctor's office, which has helped many patients overcome their fear.

When choosing a method in the fight called "how to overcome the fear of the dentist", it is necessary to honestly determine for yourself the cause of the fear, and then take steps to take action. First of all, you have to put aside defeating and panic thoughts.

Many tend to create a problem from scratch and experience what hasn't happened yet, coming up with worst-case scenarios. We recommend that you imagine a positive outcome and try to believe in it. Pleasant light music, a comical conversation with friends will help you relax. What can also help you is talking to our experts before visiting the office. It will instill confidence in you and help you in your fight.

What can also help you are the experiences and impressions of other people who have visited the practice before you. Patient impressions read on our website

Recommendations of psychologists

In order to know how to prepare for a visit to the dentist without fear and negative emotions, it is worth studying the advice of experts who work with different types of phobias. Interestingly, the fear of spiders, closed spaces and open water has a lot in common with dental phobia:

• You have to allow yourself to be afraid. Trying to hide negative emotions for a short time will result in an increased reaction of the body. It's easier to admit that fear exists and it's completely normal. After that, the feeling will become more controlled and adequate.

• Understand that there will be no pain. In case of strong excitement, it is necessary to talk to the dentist about your experiences. If your dentist does not understand or does not want to listen to you, then he is not the right specialist for you.

• Analyze the consequences of refusing a systematic visit and examination, when instead of a small manipulation you have to go through a major treatment.

• Approach the choice of clinic seriously. It is very important that you are sure of the cleanliness and equipment of the practice and the expertise and competence of its staff. This will give you extra security.

• It is recommended that you sign up for a preliminary consultation. During the examination, you talk to the dentist and decide on the issue of trust in the specialist. The main criteria will be patience and tact, willingness to answer questions and understanding of the patient's complex psychological problem. An experienced doctor is able to relieve tension, dispel some fears and describe each manipulation in detail.

• Preparation for a visit to the dentist is mandatory. It includes clarification of the time of the visit and its planned duration, advice on nutrition before and after the treatment.

• When asked what to do if you are very afraid of the dentist leaning over the chair, psychologists advise many patients to use distraction by forcing the panicked brain to solve a logical problem or repeat an obsessive song.

• Practice shows that the promise of a reward for courage works great in most cases, and the patient's age does not play a role. Even adults like to treat themselves to a little something after a stressful situation from which they came out with honor. Reward yourself with a nice lunch, a piece of clothing or a visit to the theater after a visit to the dentist and a little victory over our fear.

• To reduce fear, you must definitely find your doctor, whom you can turn to in case of any problem in the field of dentistry.

Two ways to take the first step to the dentist

Of course, it is quite difficult to overcome panic fear, but there are two ways that will help you in this. If you don't get over your fear right away, then at least you will see that modern dentistry is not as scary as it seems.

Knowledge is power

One of the most powerful ways to overcome a fear rooted in the past is to learn how modern dental clinics work. Doctors in our clinic offer the patient the most modern anesthesia against pain and for this use proven safe preparations.

In addition, our dentists communicate correctly and patiently with patients, because they know that psychological comfort increases the success of treatment.

Courtesy of the doctor

In our clinic, you can tell the dentist without hesitation that you are afraid of treatment. They will pay the same attention to the cause of your fear as they do to dental problems, choose the right therapy and offer you several options for solving panic fear.