Dental Phobia  

 

Is That Dentist’s Appointment Making You Anxious?

Do your feet tremble at the mere mention of a dentist? If yes, then you are not alone. It is estimated that around one in six people avoid visiting the dentist because of anxiety issues or dental phobia. While dental anxiety, the usual nervousness felt before an impending dental visit, can be quite common, dental phobia is more serious. At The Harley Street Dental Clinic in London, we specialise in attending to patients who suffer from dental phobia.  

 

What is Dental Phobia?

Dental Phobia  can be a serious condition in which patients have an intense fear of dentists. They become petrified, display classic avoidance behaviour and may even have panic attacks before a dental procedure. Though patients are usually aware that their fears are unfounded, they feel powerless to do anything to change the way they feel.When a dental problem becomes too much to bear, most patients who suffer from dental phobia literally have to be dragged to the dentist.

 

Here are some reasons why people suffer from dental phobia:

 

• Concerns about pain: If a person has had a traumatic dental experience previously, this can become the psychological basis of avoiding dental clinics in the future to prevent a repeat of the experience. Similarly patients may form exaggerated concerns of pain based on unpleasant tales told by their friends and family of visiting the dentist.
• Fear of injections: Some people are scared stiff of needles. The dread of a needle being inserted into their mouth, together with a feeling that the anaesthesia won’t be strong enough, causes many people to avoid visiting the dentist.
• Worry over side effects: Certain people dislike the lack of sensation linked to the use of a dental anaesthetic. Others fear side effects associated with the specific treatment they require.
• Loss of control: The imagined thought of having a dentist poke tools into the mouth, while lying helpless in a dentist’s chair, can result in a feeling of powerlessness and anxiety.
• Embarrassment: Many people are ashamed about the way their teeth look. They feel that the dentist will say something mortifying about their teeth or mouth odours, which would hurt their self esteem.  

 

The Harley Street Dental Clinic is located on Harely Street in central London and was established over 35 years by Dr Stanley Kay as a leading centre of dental excellence. If a patient has dental phobia, they can discuss their fears with our caring dentists in a relaxed and comfortable environment. Once our dentists know the specific reasons for your anxiety, they will work with you on how to reduce your fear, and hopefully not just help you overcome it but actually change your experience to an enjoyable one.  Some of the methods we use to help patients with dental phobia include clarifying treatment details and analgesia requirements in depth, establishing signals, providing in-chair entertainment, hypnosis and much more.

 

The Harley Street Dental Clinic has years of experience in handling patients with dental phobia. Our caring dentists are devoted to the needs of nervous patients, and listen sensitively to their requirements before beginning any treatment. We provide adequate analgesia, anaesthetics and sedation to ensure that our patients have a pain-free dental experience.

The first step to overcoming dental phobia is recognising that you may be suffering from it and asking for help. Our dentists can help you banish dental phobia forever, by offering you superior treatment in a painless and relaxed environment.

 

The Harley Street Dental Clinic is one of UK’s leading Dental Clinics, and can be contacted on 020 7486 1059 or info@hsdc.net.