Get Over Your Fear of the Dentist (4 part series)

Are you Afraid of the Dentist?

When you think of going to the dentist, do you feel your pulse rising? Do you tense up at the thought of sitting in that chair and hearing the sound of the drill as your dentist goes to work on your cavities? All those whirring metallic tools, the possibility of receiving bad news about your oral health… it can all be a bit too much. At Oakport Dental Sanford we understand this, but, first of all, you are certainly not alone.

Adults and children alike are vulnerable to fear of the dentist. According to the Dental Fears Research Clinic, between five and eight percent of Americans avoid visiting the dentist because they are scared. Another 20 percent say they go to the dentist only when they have to because of their fears. Children are even more likely than adults to be wary of the dentist: Thirty percent of kids say they are scared to visit the dentist. But you don’t have to live in fear. There are actually quite a few ways to overcome your dental anxiety, and your dentist in Sanford will provide a lot of options to help you out, too.

Why Do People Fear Dentists?

Before we get into how to get over your fear of visiting the dentist, though, let’s discuss some of the leading causes of dental phobias. After all, it’s much easier to handle a phobia if you understand its underlying causes. Why are people scared of dentists? There can be a lot of reasons. Here are the five most common:

1. A Bad Dental Experience as a Child

 Most people who report intense anxiety or fear when they visit the dentist say that they are afraid of feeling pain. With advancements in anesthetics and sedation dentistry, there’s no reason to be afraid of feeling pain when you’re in the dentist’s chair, but past experiences can have compelling and lasting effects. Thus, the real cause for a lot of patients who suffer from this phobia is carryover from a bad experience at the dentist’s office when they were younger.

Many people with dental phobia have held these fears since they were children, dating back to an unpleasant episode they had with a dentist in the past. Perhaps they had a tooth filled and the Novocain hadn’t quite kicked in before the dentist started drilling, leading to a very painful few moments. Or maybe a dental hygienist accidentally scraped a gum with their pick while cleaning teeth, hurting the person’s gums. It’s easy to see why someone would be loath to return to the dentist after an experience like this. They have a fear that those traumatic events will happen again. No one likes to get hurt, and many people choose to avoid having to go to the dentist altogether rather than to face those fears.

2. Pre-Existing Anxiety Disorder

For many people, an anxiety disorder that’s not even dental related may be causing their dental phobia. They may feel anxious about anything unknown, and not knowing what to expect at the dentist’s office — such as whether they will have cavities or need fluoride — can ramp up those feelings of nervousness.

3. Lack of Control

Others experience fear of the dentist because they fear the loss of control associated with letting someone else perform invasive procedures on their teeth. They know logically that their dentist will do everything in his or her power to make the procedure as comfortable and quick as possible, but they have problems giving up control and trusting their dentist to perform these tasks. Some people feel vulnerable when they are sitting in the dentist chair. They don’t like lying back and not being able to see what is going on around them. This is especially true of those who may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, as they worry about the unknown when they do not have complete control of a situation.

4. Bad Teeth

Sadly, a dental phobia can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People who are scared of the dentist may be fearful of going because they worry they have cavities that will need to be drilled.  As a result of these issues, many people avoid visiting the dentist for months or even years when they know that they should be making regular appointments. They avoid getting their teeth cleaned because they feel anxious about visiting the dentist. Then they continue avoiding the dentist because they fear that they’ve developed cavities and will need to have them filled or worse. Unfortunately, this can continue until major dental work is needed, which can be both expensive and uncomfortable.

5. Biological Mechanisms

Here’s a little-known fact uncovered by a Norwegian researcher: Humans have a deep desire to protect their open air passages. The desire is an evolutionary instinct: Our ancestors who protected their mouths and noses were more likely to remain alive. While we no longer face threats from the beasts that may have hunted our ancestors down, we still maintain that desire to protect our mouths and noses. That means our natural instinct is to resist opening our mouths and becoming vulnerable to another person. Instead, we are biologically built to guard these areas and keep them private.

Perhaps you nodded your head as you read those examples. Even if you don’t have a paralyzing fear of dentists, you may still become nervous when you go for a cleaning or take your seat in the chair. So what can you do to stop the cycle? We’ll give you some tips and strategies in the next few posts.

And of course we are always here to help!  If you are looking for a Sanford, FL dentist, call us at 407-323-5340 to schedule a consultation.