Think about that for a moment. One out of every two people or so that you know are absolutely terrified of heading to the dentist. It’s amazing to consider just how many people share this same phobia.
What’s even more amazing is that this number hasn’t gone down at all, even though dental solutions, interventions, and technology and research has gotten even better, and the dental field in general is the most advanced it’s ever been in human history.
But there’s something about visiting the dentist that none of us can shake.
Thankfully, there are a couple of different things you’re going to be able to do all on your own to make sure that you always feel entirely comfortable heading to the dentist. You’ll be able to crush any anxiety or stress that you feel about going to the dentist, and you’ll be able to take advantage of dental services more frequently because of it.
Check out the answers that we have for you below!
Get there early to wash away stress
The only thing worse than feeling nervous and anxious about the dentist is arriving just moments before your scheduled appointment and feeling even more frazzled because of it.
The last thing that you want to do is put any extra pressure on yourself when you’re already nervous, which is why you’re going to want to try and get to your appointment at least a half an hour before you have to. This gives you plenty of time to relax in the waiting room, to unwind, and to speak with the dentist or any of his staff so that you are completely at ease before your actual appointment.
It is one of the simplest ways to wash away stress, but it’s also one of the most effective!
Communicate regularly with your dentist
We always feel a lot more comfortable around people that we know and that we are familiar with, and we almost always feel at least a little bit of awkwardness when we are dealing with complete strangers in intimate situations.
Well, it doesn’t get a lot more intimate than having a stranger stick their fingers or their tools in your mouth, now does it?
And that’s exactly what most of our dentists are to us – strangers. We only see them once a year (if that), and we have no real relationship built up with them. If you are looking to eliminate a lot of the stress and pressure that you’re feeling, you’re going to have to change all that.
Spend more time communicating with your dentist (within reason), and really try to create some kind of rapport and a relationship so that you don’t feel quite as anxious visiting them.
Work only with pain-free dental professionals
There are lots of specialty dental offices out there today that focus entirely on creating pain-free dental services for each and every one of their patients.
If you are at all anxious, nervous, or a little bit worried about visiting the dentist because of the pain that you have felt in the past or the pain that you are in envisioning, these are the kinds of specialists that you’re going to want to visit.
Many of them take advantage of local anesthetics and use them for pretty much every operation or procedure in the office, and some even have “knockout gas” that they are able to give to those that really cannot even imagine going through the motions without being completely unconscious.
If you ever find yourself dealing with serious anxiety to the point where you aren’t able to address dental emergencies because of your stress, you’ll want to try and find one of these pain-free dental professionals and asked them to give you the juice.
They’ll knock you out, take care of the problem, and you’ll come to in much better shape than you were before without ever having felt anything!
Remember that you are always in control
At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that you are always in complete and total control.
Sure, your dentist is going to be the professional there and will be recommending and carrying out the different procedures that you need to have performed, but you are always able to say you aren’t comfortable with something and have the choice to walk away.
Should you find yourself in a situation where you just aren’t feeling it, you just aren’t comfortable, where you just can’t quite reach an equilibrium, don’t be shy about voicing your concerns and rescheduling to a later point in time. It might just be the thing you need to move forward!