Fear of the dentist is a very real and common problem for a lot of people. Some surveys even put it in the most common phobias category. In fact, over 25 percent of respondents said they were terrified of dental care! As a dentist near Rockdale, we understand, and we want to help combat it.
We offer multiple ways to help our patients overcome their fears of dentistry, from sedation to just a good atmosphere at our office. We’ll gladly provide sedatives to patients who need them. However, today we want to talk about something different: overcoming your dental fear by using your brain.
Let’s Talk About That Fear…
Things are about to get psychological! There’s a lot of similarities between treating dental fear and any other anxiety or phobia that you may have. It all starts with trying to identify where the fear comes from.
For some people this is easy – it was a particular incident in their youth, a movie or TV show they saw, or a story someone told them that permanently changed their opinion of dentistry. You might not know where your fear comes from, and that’s perfectly okay. It might even be better, in fact! The goal of overcoming your dental fear isn’t centered around knowing where it came from, it’s centered around understanding what you’re thinking.
What Is It That You’re Scared Of?
Most people are scared of the dentist because of the potential for pain during treatment. Others are scared of the invasive nature of dentistry, and plenty of people have completely different reasons. No matter what your particular fear is there is one important question that you have to ask yourself: is this fear realistic?
This is where we really get into some serious self-reflection. Think about the thing that scares you about dentistry – is it reasonable to expect it to happen 100 percent of the time? Don’t let yourself get the best of you: it isn’t.
That’s the first part of overcoming your dental fear: realizing that your anxieties are based on your assumption of what is going to happen, not necessarily the reality of the situation. In order to find out the truth about dental care it’s necessary to actually get it done first! Many of the patients we see are amazed at how simple and pain-free our dental work can be!
Clearing Your Head
Once you know that your fear exists entirely in your own head it immediately becomes easier to conquer it. It can still be a challenge to overcome your anxiety, but knowing that it’s only due to your projection onto a possible future event can be enough to start breaking that wall!
Let us have the opportunity to show you how easy and anxiety-free dental care can really be – we may surprise you at how fast it goes by!
A Patient Experience
We had a young mother come in to see us last year who was petrified of the dentist. She had recently developed some postnatal oral health problems and decided she couldn’t avoid care any longer. She was looking for a dentist near Rockdale, and came to see us. When she came here, she couldn’t even get through a simple exam and cleaning without mild anesthesia.
We took the time to talk with her about her dental fear. It wasn’t easy for her to face her anxiety about dentistry, but she knew that her smile was going to be ruined without the proper care. There were a couple essential procedures she needed to restore her teeth. Prior to treatment, she decided the best approach was with an anesthesia option.
Since those last few procedures we hadn’t seen her for a while. Since she’s fully recovered and returned for a cleaning she just had to share with us how much less nervous she was! Facing her dental fear, she said, was easy once she realized that one bad experience didn’t mean every dental appointment had to be painful. Since we eased her into understanding her fear with sedation and some simple advice she’d found herself feeling completely okay with seeing our Shorewood dental care team!
We Want To Help You Just Like We Did Her
It can be a challenging first step to make. However, don’t put off essential dental care due to worrying about the potential for pain. We’ll do whatever we can, including the use of sedation. Our goal is to help you get the healthy mouth you need to life a fulfilling, happy, and smile-filled life.
Are you in search for a dentist near Rockdale, Illinois? Don’t hesitate to call Shorewood Family Dental Care at 815-725-5991: we’re here to help! You can also schedule an appointment by filling out our online request form. We look forward to seeing you soon!
