This two-part article series discusses why many patients experience fear and anxiety at the prospect of their bi-annual appointments.

For many people, shaking hands, an elevated heart beat and a cold sweat is par for the course during their bi-annual appointment with the dentist. Just like a fear of spiders, snakes, heights and closed spaces, dental phobias are all too common amongst the members of our society. Perhaps you yourself are a sufferer! The difference between the afore-mentioned fears and a phobia of the dentist and dental treatment is that the primal phobias are an atavistic response to imminent danger. A spider or snake bite could be potentially fatal. Heights too; but a visit to the dentist nowadays is, at its best, mildly uncomfortable.

So why do we fear it so? And why is this fear so pervasive? In our previous article post, we discussed the media, movies and our friends and family as being a source of dental anxiety and fear. Just from hearing the way our parents and friends talk, we grow up thinking that a trip to the dentist is something to be nervous about. Then of course there are needles to worry about.

But of all the various sources of dental anxiety and fear, perhaps the over-arching theme is pain. A fear of pain and discomfort.

Tooth Implant Experts: Pain Management in Dentistry

“It is completely normal for patients to worry about pain,” say tooth implant experts. “But what people seem to have forgotten is that dentistry has advanced quite substantially over the last few decades. Even in the last 10 years, we’ve made incredible advancements in the fields of patient care and pain management.”

Nowadays your dentist will use:

• Anesthetic gels to numb the gums before needles are used, so you don’t feel a thing.
• Sedative medications to send you off safely to la-la land so that you won’t remember a thing about your procedure.
• Anesthesia for more complex surgeries.
• Prescription pain medications to manage post-operative pain and discomfort.
  

But perhaps the greatest advancements of all, as far as pain is concerned, are the sophisticated technologies that allow general and cosmetic dentists to offer non-invasive solutions to ailments that have traditionally required surgery. Computer imaging software is now a standard tool in the dentist’s office, which can be used to provide a comprehensive understanding of jaw bone structure and tooth orientation. This in turn allows the dentist to plan procedures in great detail, thus minimizing the need for incisions and sutures: a primary cause of post-operative pain and discomfort.

Modern Dentistry: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

A combination of newer, less invasive dental procedures and pain management medications and techniques really has rendered the modern day dental office a place of pleasant experiences rather than pain and anxiety. “Our services really have changed over the years and while dentists have always had a bad rap in the past, this is – for the most part – unfair and even exaggerated,” says a cosmetic dentist in Sun City.

Bear all this in mind the next time fear and anxiety make you consider skipping your appointment with the dentist!