Overcoming the Fear of Dentists
Anxious Patients at the Dentist’s
Goethe was afraid of heights, Freud suffered from panic attacks, and even Cardinal Ratzinger, when asked if there was anything he was afraid of, once admitted: “Sure there is - the dentist!”
Faced with the dental regalia and tools, such as drills, syringes and forceps, many patients are afflicted with a heavy feeling of discomfort. According to English estimates, about 10% of the population fear the dentist to the extent that they completely avoid check-ups or treatment. There are, roughly speaking, 4 elements that bother patients:
- Fear of pain
- Fear of helplessness
- Fear of choking (gagging)
- Fear of high expenses
Most people can cope well with dentist anxiety. For patients with phobias, long waiting times are an unnecessary torture. Share your fears with us. As we are an appointment clinic, your waiting times are already kept as short as possible.
In cases of minor fear of the dentist, distraction can often help. Due to the clinic’s special ambiance, your consultation and treatment takes place in a chilled-out atmosphere. Or why not bring your own music? Evidence shows that listening to the right music causes relaxation. After only 10 minutes, the blood pressure drops and the heart rate slows down.
You can even watch videos during treatment.
If you are one of those patients who are sensitive to pain, then you should opt for an afternoon appointment. Most people’s pain perception is slightly reduced around that time of day.
Tranquillisers, Sedation, Anaesthesia
As an anxious patient, you will be given a tranquilliser to ingest on the evening before the appointment. Tranquillisers are also administered before particularly long or painful treatments.
Our patients like to select the type of sedation themselves. For this, they are given anxiolytics and an injection of a centrally-active pain reliever directly into the basilic vein. This is beneficial for two reasons. First, the patient enters into a state of semi-sleep during treatment. Second, the patient has no negative recollection after treatment.
In severe cases it is possible to receive dental treatment under general anaesthesia. For years we have been working successfully with a team of anaesthesiologists. Treatment under anaesthesia is usually performed on Wednesdays and Fridays.
