What is dental anxiety?
Dental
anxiety is a fearful response to dentists and dental office visits. About 75% of Americans experience some form
of dental anxiety, most often mild apprehension. However, for a smaller fraction, dental anxiety
is much more serious. Serious dental
anxiety occurs in up to 10% of the population, and can lead to behavior such as
difficulty making appointments, panic attacks, or extreme anxiety leading up to
and during a dental appointment.
Why is dental anxiety problematic?
A person with severe dental anxiety
may avoid dentists entirely. Their teeth
will decay without regular dental cleaning, which can result in pain,
embarrassment, ugly teeth, bad breath, and most critically can lead to poorer
general health.
What are common symptoms of Severe Dental Anxiety?
General panic symptoms are
typically seen with Severe Dental Anxiety, including difficulty breathing,
sweaty palms, racing heart, lightheadedness and feeling queasy.
How can Dental Anxiety be Managed?
One of the easiest and most
effective ways is to learn relaxation techniques, such as breathing or
meditation, which can help relax them during an appointment. A similar option that we make available to
our Weston Area dental patients is dental
hypnosis, which is very effective in relaxing a willing patient.
Just knowing that there is a problem can allow our dental staff to
address phobias, such as by telling our patients what we are doing in each
step, or avoiding a particular procedure if at all possible. We can make arrangements for you to signal us
to pause during treatment while you calm down and relax. We also offer other relaxation aids such as
TVs and music and a beautiful salt-water living reef aquarium in our state-of-the-art
Weston dental location: Read More
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