Effective Dental Treatments Consider Patient Fears and Phobias

People don't understand the nature of a phobia until they develop one of their own. Some have an irrational fear of crowds or open spaces, while other phobias are based on physical sensations, like the prick of a needle or the hair-raising squeak a chalk makes on a chalkboard. Many people are traumatized by the thought of visiting a Brisbane dentist, even for treatments as simple as tooth cleaning or a dental X-ray. If you're trying to hold off a consultation for an endless list of reasons, then you're probably suffering from an anxiety attack, an irrational fear, or a full-blown dental phobia. You should get over your worries, especially if you want to end the pain and have that decayed tooth treated and extracted.

The Source of Dental Fears and Anxieties

There's a distinction between dental anxiety, fear, and phobia; your dentist should recognize these issues and ensure a comfortable (or at the very least, tolerable) visit. Anxiety is a common response to new experiences or unknown risks. Children resist a visit to the dentist because it involves a variety of first-time experiences, such as a tooth extraction or braces fitting. Anxiety eventually wears off after repeated treatments, and people grow out of it in due time. On the other hand, a dental fear is a negative response to a previous experience. Patients who've gone through a poorly executed root canal procedure will naturally expect the same horrors on procedures which involve drilling and probing. It's a difficult stigma to break, but the best dentists adopt psychological methods to keep the fears at bay before and during the treatment.

Dentophobia: an Intense Fear of Dentists and Dental Treatments

A phobia is an amplified version of fear, and people suffering from it will always avoid circumstances which lead to a traumatic experience. There's usually a trigger to this fight-or-flight response, like the buzzing sound of a dental drill or the memory of an intense wash of bright light. Patients with dentophobia forego restorative treatments until the pain or discomfort is too much to bear and they're left with the last resort.

Choose Dental Clinics with a Psychological Approach to Treatments

Many dental clinics are still unaware of the psychological aspect of treatments. Most dentists only train to handle fears or phobias if they're working with children or severe trauma. Patients usually develop fears and phobias out of a bad experience, and a dentist should know how to deal with it in a manner that isn't intrusive. A Brisbane dentist should be sensitive to a patient's expectations, guiding him through the procedure and the expectations that go along with it. Licensed practitioners should also have the ability to diagnose the nature of the hesitation, so they can provide custom treatment or refer the patient to specialists.

Visit BrisbaneSmileCentre and consider restorative solutions to your dental problem. Consultations lead to a wide variety of options you can choose from. Schedule an appointment and pay a visit to specialists who know dental treatments inside and out.

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