All These Areas Are Within Easy Reach of The Haven Healing Centre, Blagdon, Bristol
To book your Dentist Phobia Treatment at a convenient time, call: 01761 462722
Abbots Leigh
Ashwick
Avonmouth
Axbridge
Babington
Backwell
Badgworth
Bagley
Banwell
Barrow Gurney
Bason Bridge
Bath
Beckington
Berrow
Biddisham
Bishop Sutton
Bitton
Blackford
Blagdon
Bleadon
Bleadney
Bradford-on-Avon
Brean
Brent Knoll
Bristol
Burnham-on-Sea
Burrington
Butcombe
Cameley
Catcott
Chantry
Chapel Allerton
Cheddar
Chelwood
Chew Magna
Chew Stoke
Chilcompton
Churchill
Clapton
Claverham
Claverton
Cleeve
Clevedon
Clutton
Cocklake
Coleford
Compton Bishop
Compton Dando
Compton Martin
Congresbury
Coxley
Cranmore
Cross
Downhead
Draycott
Dundry
Dunkerton
East Brent
East Harptree
East Huntspill
Easton-in-Gordano
Edithmead
Emborough
Englishcombe
Evercreech
Failand
Farmborough
Farrington Gurney
Felton
Flax Bourton
Freshford
Frome
Glastonbury
Godney
Green Ore
Gurney Slade
Highbridge
Highbury
High Littleton
Hinton Blewett
Hutton
Inglesbatch
Kelston
Kenn
Kewstoke
Keynsham
Kilmersdon
Kingston Seymour
Langford
Litton
Locking
Long Ashton
Lower Weare
Loxton
Lympsham
Mark
Marksbury
Mells
Midsomer Norton
Monkton Combe
Nailsea
Nempnett Thrubwell
Nettlebridge
Newbury
Oldmixon
Paulton
Peasedown
Pensford
Pilton
Portishead
Prestleigh
Priddy
Priston
Pucklechurch
Pudlow
Puxton
Queen Charlton
Radstock
Redhill
Rickford
Ridgehill
Rodney Stoke
Rooks Bridge
Rowberrow
Saltford
Sandford
Shapwick
Shepton Mallet
Shipham
Sidcot
Somerton
Stanton Drew
Star
Staverton
St Georges
Stoke St Michael
Ston Easton
Stone Bridge
Stowey
Street
Temple Cloud
Tickenham
Timsbury
Trowbridge
Ubley
Weare
Wedmore
Wellow
Wells
West Harptree
West Horrington
Weston-Super-Mare
West Pennard
Whatley
Whitchurch
Winford
Winscombe
Wookey
Wraxall
Wrington
Yatton
For All Enquiries Please Call Phil
On: 01761 462722
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Cure Your Phobias and Fears -
Fear of the Dentist or Dental Work
• Rapid and thorough relief from dental phobias, regardless of intensity or duration. Find resolution NOW!
Dental fear refers to the fear of dentistry and of receiving dental care. A pathological form of this fear (specific phobia) is variously called dental phobia, odontophobia, dentophobia, dentist phobia, or dental anxiety. However, it has been suggested that the term "dental phobia" is often a misnomer, as many people with this condition do not feel their fears to be excessive or unreasonable and resemble individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder, caused by previous traumatic dental experiences. I guess we can all relate to that can't we?
It is estimated that as many as 75% of adults experience some degree of dental fear, from mild to severe. With approximately 5 to 10 percent of adults are considered to experience dental phobia; that is, they are so fearful of receiving dental treatment that they avoid dental care at all costs.
Many dentally fearful people will only seek dental care when they have a dental emergency, such as a toothache or dental abscess. People who are very fearful of dental care often experience a “cycle of avoidance,” in which they avoid dental care due to fear until they experience a dental emergency requiring invasive treatment, which can reinforce their fear of dentistry.
Women tend to report more dental fear than men, and younger people tend to report being more dentally fearful than older individuals. People tend to report being more fearful of more invasive procedures, such as oral surgery, than they are of less invasive treatment, such as professional dental cleanings, or prophylaxis.
What is the cause of dental phobia?
Many people report that their dental fear began after a traumatic, difficult, and/or painful dental experience. However, painful or traumatic dental experiences alone do not explain why people develop dental phobia. The perceived manner of the dentist is an important variable. Dentists who were considered "impersonal", "uncaring", "uninterested" or "cold" were found to result in high dental fear in students, even in the absence of painful experiences, whereas some students who had had painful experiences failed to develop dental fear if they perceived their dentist as caring and warm.
Dental fear may also develop as people hear about others' traumatic experiences or negative views of dentistry. So, some people develop dental phobia even when though the traumatic dental event didn't even happen to them.
Treatments for dental fear often include a combination of behavioral and pharmacological techniques. Specialized dental fear clinics, such as those at the University of Washington in Seattle and Göteborg University in Sweden, use both psychologists and dentists to help people learn to manage and decrease their fear of dental treatment. The goal of these clinics is to provide individuals with the fear management skills necessary for them to receive regular dental care with a minimum of fear or anxiety. Although specialized clinics exist to help individuals manage and overcome their fear of dentistry, many dental providers outside of such clinics use similar behavioral and cognitive strategies to help patients reduce their fear.
What treatments are available for dental phobia?
Behavioral treatments include teaching individuals relaxation techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, as well as cognitive, or thought-based techniques, such as cognitive restructuring and guided imagery. Both relaxation and cognitive strategies have been shown to significantly reduce dental fear. One example of a behavioral technique is systematic desensitization, a method used in psychology to overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. This is also sometimes called graduated exposure therapy or gradual exposure. For example, for a patient who is fearful of dental injections, the therapist first teaches relaxation skills to the patient, then gradually introduces the feared object (in this case, the needle and/or syringe) to the patient, encouraging the patient to manage his/her fear using the relaxation skills previously taught.
The patient progresses through the steps of receiving a dental injection while using the relaxation skills, until the patient is able to successfully receive a dental injection while experiencing little to no fear. This method has been shown to be effective in treating fear of dental injections. Cognitive restructuring , if applied in a non-threatening situation, might be an useful alternative as a first step after years of avoidance of dental care and less threatening than immediate exposure to the feared stimuli.
It is interesting to take into account the views of people who have been provided with behavioural treatments for dental fear. From a psychologist's perspective, techniques such as graded exposure, relaxation techniques or challenging catastrophic thinking are important. However, Gerry Kent, a clinical psychologist from the University of Sheffield UK, notes that from the patient's perspective, interventions can be conceptualized quite differently. He argues that high levels of anxiety or phobia should not be considered as residing simply within the individual or in the individual's perceptions of dental care, but more within the relationship with the dentist. For example, when patients who had successfully completed a cognitive-behavioural programme were asked what had helped them to tolerate treatment, they mentioned factors such as the provision of information, the time taken, being put in control by the dentist, and the dentist understanding and listening to their concerns. Such findings suggest that an interpersonal model of anxiety and anxiety-reduction is useful when trying to understand and treat dental fears.
Behavioural strategies used by dentists include positive reinforcement (e.g. praising the patient), the use of non-threatening language, and tell-show-do techniques. The tell-show-do technique was originally developed for use in pediatric dentistry, but can also be used with nervous adult patients. The technique involves verbal explanations of procedures in easy-to-understand language (tell), followed by demonstrations of the sights, sounds, smells, and tactile aspects of the procedure in a non-threatening way (show), followed by the actual procedure (do).
Certain aspects of the physical environment also play an important role in alleviating dental fear. For example, getting rid of the smells traditionally associated with dentistry, the dental team wearing non-clinical clothes, or playing music in the background can all help patients by removing and replacing stimuli which can trigger feelings of fear (see classical conditioning). Some anxious patients respond well to more obvious distraction techniques such as listening to music, watching movies, or even using virtual-reality headsets during treatment.
Pharmacological techniques to manage dental fear range from mild sedation to general anesthesia, and are often used by dentists in conjunction with behavioral techniques.
One common anxiety-reducing medication used in dentistry is nitrous oxide (also known as “laughing gas”), which is inhaled through a mask worn on the nose and causes feelings of relaxation and dissociation. Dentists may prescribe an oral sedative, such as a benzodiazepine like temazepam (Restoril), alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), or triazolam (Halcion). Triazolam (Halcion) is not available in the UK. While these sedatives may help people feel calmer and sometimes drowsy during dental treatment, patients are still conscious and able to communicate with the dental staff. Intravenous sedation uses benzodiazepines administered directly intravenously into a patient’s arm or hand. IV sedation is often referred to as “conscious sedation” as opposed to general anesthesia (GA). In IV sedation, patients breathe on their own while their breathing and heart rate are monitored. In GA, patients are more deeply sedated.
Recent research has focused on the role of online communities in helping people to confront their anxiety or phobia and successfully receive dental care. The findings suggest that certain individuals do appear to benefit from their involvement in dental anxiety online support groups.
What other treatments are available for dental phobia?
My own preference for dental phobia is to use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), because it covers all of the above, without the limitations of the above.
This is partly because it is a very effective form of therapy, but also because it is relatively quick. Most of the alternatives above, with the possible exception of general anesthesia, can be very long winded, take months or years to work, cost hundreds or thousands of pounds, and aren't guaranteed to work. Often even intense fears can be alleviated through the use of tapping and imagery in just a few hours, without needing to give therapy "in vivo" - (in the dentists chair or surgery itself). The idea of EFT is that you learn the process yourself in therapy. It is a simple procedure and is quick to learn. Whenever you go to the dentist subsequently, you will feel calmer and more at ease with the whole process of having your teeth examined, drilled and filled. During therapy, we look at any area that you know causes you to feel fearful. However, in addition, anytime during the treatment, if even the slightest degree of fear develops in you, because of something unexpected, you will have the tools to deal with it, and to stop it instantly, right there on the spot. That's the beauty of EFT. You learn it once and then take it with you to use again and again, whenever you need to.
My final message to you is this: Tooth decay not only gives you toothache, it can upset the balance of your health in your whole body. A tooth that is rotting becomes a breeding ground for bacteria which you are swallowing all day, and which can enter the blood stream. This can overload your immune system and cause you to become seriously ill. Regular dental checkups and treatment are an essential part of good health and can be compromised when fear or phobia cause you to refuse treatment. Get help NOW!. If you live in any of the towns and villages on the left of this article, you are well within a 2-40 minute drive of The Haven Healing Centre, and I'd be delighted to see you.
Please call Phil Chave on 01761 462722 to make your appointment or to talk about a treatment plan structured around your needs.
Don't wait. Make your appointment today. You'll be glad you did!
P.S. If you or someone you know has a fear of the dentist, and it's destroying their lives, send them the link to this page, get them to pick up the phone and give me a call. Let's put an end to it RIGHT NOW! You can do EFT right alongside your current treatment, even over the phone, and it will do no harm, neither will your treatments interfere with one another.
If you have any thoughts on this, please write to me at:
Philip Chave © 2007-
Note:
DISCLAIMER: This information is not presented by a medical practitioner and is for educational and informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a
substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read.
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