PATIENT COMFORT AT THE CORE OF OUR ETHOS

Dental fear, also known as dental anxiety or odontophobia, refers to a feeling of intense fear or anxiety about visiting the dentist or undergoing dental procedures. This fear is quite common and can range from mild unease to full-blown panic.

Here’s a breakdown of the different types, causes, and the consequences:

Adults experience four basic kinds of anxiety:

• Apprehension – Feelings of unease, worry, or paranoia.
• Repression – This sensation of being on edge and irritable leads to difficulty concentrating, insomnia, and an overall feeling of exhaustion.
• Tension – This anxiety is felt as tenseness throughout the body, resulting in muscle aches and pains.
• Restlessness – When the autonomic nervous system triggers dizziness, perspiration, or a “lump in the throat.”

Causes of Dental Fear:

1. Previous Negative Experiences: People who have had painful or uncomfortable dental visits in the past may develop a fear of future appointments. A traumatic event at the dentist can leave lasting impressions.
2. Fear of Pain: Many people associate dental visits with pain, whether from a previous procedure or just the anxiety around potential discomfort. This fear of pain can cause significant distress.
3. Fear of Loss of Control: During a dental procedure, a person is often lying back in a chair with limited movement and may feel vulnerable. This loss of control can lead to anxiety, particularly in people who have a tendency to feel claustrophobic or anxious in similar situations.
4. Embarrassment or Shame: Some individuals may feel self-conscious about the state of their teeth, especially if they have neglected their dental care for an extended period. The fear of judgment can contribute to anxiety.
5. Media Influence: Depictions of dental procedures in movies or media—often exaggerated or sensationalized—can also contribute to fear or anxiety, even if these portrayals don’t reflect reality.
6. Fear of the Unknown: Uncertainty about what will happen during a dental visit, especially if it’s for a procedure a person hasn’t experienced before, can trigger anxiety.
7. Shared traumatic stories: As a paediatric specialist is saddens me as to how often children come to the practice for their first dental visit but already display clear emotions of fear or anxiety. Most of these children’s fears are based on stories they have heard from older siblings, other children at school or overheard adult conversations where traumatic stories are retold with much animation.
8. Negative Medical Experiences: previous medical experiences at the paediatrician or in hospital can result in an overall fear towards all clinical environments.

Consequences of Dental Fear:

1. Avoidance of Dental Care: One of the most significant consequences of dental fear is avoidance. People who are afraid of visiting the dentist may postpone or completely avoid needed dental appointments. This avoidance can lead to worsening dental health, as problems such as cavities, gum disease, or tooth infections are left untreated. A cavity or an abscess wont just disappear without some kind of intervention, ignoring the problem can only have a negative consequence.
2. Worsening of Oral Health: When dental issues are ignored due to fear, they can escalate. What might have been a simple cleaning or filling can eventually turn into a more serious problem requiring extensive procedures, such as root canals, extractions, or oral surgery.
3. Increased Costs: Avoiding dental care can lead to more severe dental problems, which often require more complex and expensive treatments. If someone avoids the dentist for too long, they may end up needing treatments that are much more costly than if they had addressed their dental issues earlier.
4. Negative Impact on Overall Health: Poor oral health has been linked to other health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory conditions. By avoiding the dentist, people may inadvertently put their overall health at risk. The Link between Oral And Systemic Health
5. Emotional and Psychological Impact: The fear and anxiety surrounding dental visits can cause stress, embarrassment, and guilt, which can negatively affect a person’s mental health. In some cases, this anxiety can even affect a person’s ability to maintain social relationships or engage in activities where they may be concerned about their smile, halitosis or dental health.
6. Deterioration of Self-Esteem: As dental problems worsen, people may feel self-conscious about the appearance of their teeth. This can lead to feelings of shame and lower self-esteem, especially if someone avoids social situations because they’re embarrassed about their smile or oral health.

Addressing Dental Fears at CBM&DS:

• Communication with the Dentist: Our intake forms incorporate several questions around fears and anxieties, so that we can best assist you as the patient. We encourage patients to openly discuss their or their child’s fears with us so we can help tailor the experience to be as comfortable as possible. Some patients prefer to close their eyes and “block out” as much as possible while others prefer to have each step explained before and during the procedure – understanding which option best suites the individual, allows us to best assist them.
• Sedation Options: For people with severe dental anxiety, sedation options like oral sedatives, intravenous sedation with a professional seditionist at the practice or even light general anesthesia can help them relax or even sleep through the procedure.
• Reducing Fear Of Injections: We offer the Wand – A computer-controlled local anaesthesia delivery system used in dentistry to make injections more comfortable and less intimidating for our patients. It’s especially helpful for those with dental anxiety or needle phobia, and awesome for children. Together with the use of topical gel, it allows for a minimally to zero pain numbing process.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): In some cases, therapy or counseling can help individuals cope with dental fear. CBT, which helps people identify and change negative thought patterns, is often used for this purpose. We also work with kinesiologists to help “rewire” the beliefs and responses around dental treatment.
• Gradual Exposure: For some, gradual exposure to the dentist or dental office can help reduce fear over time. This might involve visiting the dentist for non-invasive procedures, or just to get accustomed to the office environment before any actual treatment takes place. This technique works well with children who have had a previous negative experience at a dentist and are then referred to Dr Maria Theologides, where we encourage parents to pop in to our practice and just allow the child to play in the kids’ zone, meet dr Maria in the reception area and just chat, before they are taken into the room for a consult. This allows the child to get used to the environment in a fun and calm atmosphere. We also make use of tv screens with children’s programmes, blowing of bubbles and a reward system, to help create a more child friendly interaction.
• Pure Essential oils known for their calming history date back to ancient ayurvedic medicine and allows us to offer a natural calming adjunct to patients. We offer an anti-dental anxiety essential oil blend that calms nervous patients, reducing jaw and neck strain and stimulating natural healing. This anti stress essential oil blend contains organic plant compounds that stimulate a uniquely tranquil experience which can be diffused into the air of the treatment room with a quiet, electric cool mist humidifier, or dabbed onto the patient’s bib or massaged onto the patient’s temples.
• Calming Environment: We believe that having a calm environment with gentle music and pure essential oils allows for a calmer mind and spirit for our patients and our staff. Our experienced team understand how stressful having dental treatments can be, especially for children, so our ethos and protocols are all centred around patient comfort and support.
• Reducing additional stress: having been “in the business” for over 30 years, we have also understood that for many people spending money on their teeth can add an additional stressor. Understanding that oral health impacts systemic health, patients feel more at ease understanding that this is an investment into their present and future health. In addition, after the primary consultation, we offer quotes for all planned treatments, avoiding any surprises which may provoke anticipation anxiety and so allowing our patients the opportunity to plan their finances – allowing them to place the focus on their health.

The Wand

The Wand is a computer-controlled local anaesthesia delivery system used in dentistry to make injections more comfortable and less intimidating for our patients. It’s especially helpful for those with dental anxiety or needle phobia, and awesome for children. Together with the use of topical gel, it allows for a minimally to zero pain numbing process.

How It Works:

1. Computer-Controlled Flow:
   • The Wand uses a small computer to control the flow rate of the anesthetic.
   • This slow, steady delivery reduces the pain usually caused by the rapid injection of anesthetic.
2. Handpiece Design:
   • It looks more like a pen than a traditional syringe, which makes it less threatening.
   • The dentist or hygienist holds it like a pencil, allowing for greater precision.
3. Single Tooth Anesthesia (STA):
   • One of its key techniques is delivering anesthesia to a single tooth without numbing the surrounding tissues (like the lips or tongue).
   • This means patients can resume normal activities faster, without lingering numbness.
4. Dynamic Pressure Sensing (in some models):
   • Some versions of The Wand include pressure sensors that help the dentist monitor tissue resistance in real-time.
   • This ensures the anesthetic is being delivered to the correct location at the correct depth.

Benefits:

• Reduced pain and anxiety during injections
• More precise delivery of anesthetic
• Quicker recovery from numbness
• Better experience for children and nervous patients

Overall, while dental fear is common, it’s important to address it early to prevent it from affecting both oral and overall health. If you experience significant anxiety about dental visits, or planning your child’s first dental visit, talk to us about your concerns so we can assist and plan the first step towards reducing/overcoming it.

Contact us or call us 021 438 1710