Dental anxiety affects about 36% of the population, with 12% of people suffering from extreme anxiety.
Most people don’t like to go to the dentist because of anticipated pain. This impacts your dental health because you put off going to the dentist.
Put off going to the dentist, and your quality of life drops. You can’t enjoy food because it’s too painful to eat. Other aspects of your life are affected by your dental health.
How can you feel better about your next dental treatment? Read on to learn the top tips to ease your dental anxiety.
1. Get In the Right Frame of Mind
They say that anxiety is in your head, and that’s true to a certain extent. Anxiety is a result of your thoughts. You start to think about the worst-case scenario in a situation, and that snowballs into paralyzing fear.
Overcome dental anxiety by resetting your mind. Write down what scares you the most about going to the dentist.
It might be that you’re embarrassed by your teeth. If you haven’t flossed or you think you have a big problem, it could be enough to scare you.
Past experiences at the dentist could have been painful, like a surprise root canal. Even if it happened when you were a kid, that shaped your opinion of the dentist.
Understand what scares you about the dentist and reframe those thoughts. Meditate on them and know that this experience at the dentist will be a positive one.
2. Bring Support
Going to the dentist alone is enough to make you avoid it. Having a familiar face nearby to support you is a way to cope with dental anxiety.
Some dental practices let people in the room with you while they work. They understand that patients might have a lot of fear and anxiety.
Make sure the person you bring is truly supportive. You don’t need to have someone give you their entire dental history. That only heightens the anxiety levels.
This isn’t about them. It’s about supporting you.
3. Pick the Best Dentist
The best experiences really come down to the best dentist practices. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the right dentist for you.
There are some dentists that cater exclusively to anxious patients.
That might be right up your alley. These offices have plenty of ways to distract you from being at the dentist, such as TV shows and relaxing music.
They’ll also go out of their way to put you at ease. Let the dentist know what your fears are and bring a list of questions to ask.
A top dentist will talk everything through with you to lower your dental anxiety.
Make Dental Anxiety a Thing of the Past
Dental anxiety affects everyone differently. One thing that dental anxiety patients have in common is that they do everything possible to avoid the dentist.
You won’t need to avoid the dentist any longer with these tips for dental anxiety. You’ll have a better quality of life.
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