Overcome Your Fear of the Dentist

When was your last dental exam? For many people, regular dental check-ups are not high on their list of priorities. And the reason usually isn’t a lack of money or insurance, nor is it that they forgot to make an appointment. The reason is fear.

Some people are afraid of the unknown. Others are frightened by stories of negative dental experiences from family and friends. Still others associate the dental exam with a feeling of helplessness and a loss of control.

What can be done to help you?

First find a sympathetic dentist and discuss the matter with him. When booking the appointment tell the receptionist that you are frightened and that you do not wish for any surgical treatment at the visit - just a chat!

There are many methods avaliable to help you whilst the treatment is being done. These include techniques such as Intravenous Sedation, Oral sedation, Inhalation sedation, General Anaesthesia, Hypnosis, Psychotherapy or even just the support of some of your close family or friends.

Intravenous Sedation

Intravenous sedation is the administration of a tranquillizer drug into the blood system in order to facilitate dental surgery in the highly anxious patient.

What Effect Does it Have?

The sedative used produces a very strong sensation of deep relaxation and well-being in the vast majority of patients. Even the most highly anxious patients can be successfully treated with this technique. Most patients experience either full or partial memory loss of the dental surgery. This is one of the factors that most patients give as it's biggest advantage.

How is it Given?

The drug is injected into one of the superficial veins of the arm or hand. As the vein is usually just under the skin and the needles used these days are extremely thin this is usually quite painless.

Can Anybody have this Sedation?

The vast majority of patients are medically able to have sedation, although some medical conditions rule it out as an option, such as severe lung diseases, some heart problems, obesity or anorexia.

Is it Safe?

As opposed to general anaesthesia the patient remains medically consious but deeply relaxed throughout the surgery. Thus the potential dangers of general anaesthesia are greatly avoided. A great deal of research has been carried out on this subject and so long as the sedation is carried out by a dentist who is trained and experienced in the technique it has been shown to be extremely safe.

Does it Work for Everyone?

In a study conducted by the author of these pages and published in the British Dental Journal in June 1996 sedation was found to be effective in 99% of patients. And that's not bad!