For many people dental anxiety is a very real problem. As you can probably guess it revolves around the fear of going to the dentist – and a lot of people face it for their entire lives. Just like any type of anxiety, dental anxiety is unhealthy and is further compounded by the fact that it often results in people missing their regular dental checkups because of the fear they feel.
If you suffer from dental anxiety then you should try to overcome it. Skipping your regular dental checkups isn’t a viable option, and it will just increase your risk of ending up with a severe dental condition astronomically. Make no mistake, that isn’t limited to cavities and gum infections alone – but could also stretch to other infections that affect your health as a whole.
Learning More About the Process
For most people who suffer from dental anxiety it often has its roots in a day and age when dentistry was less sophisticated and trips to the dentist often involved large and scary-looking drills. Over the years dentistry has evolved considerably, but that imagery still remains – especially in the psyche of those who suffer from dental anxiety.
Some people find that learning more about the processes involved in modern dentistry helps them to assuage their fear somewhat. Seeing the advances that have been made and how much less scary the equipment involved looks nowadays can help to provide some amount of perspective and reduce the fear involved in visiting the dentist.
Further Help
Of course there are other ways to get further help if your case of dental anxiety is particularly serious. At first it would be a good idea to talk to your dentist about it. Most dentists are experienced in dealing with people who have dental anxiety and will be able to help you through it. If necessary they may even recommend ‘sleep’ dentistry whereby anesthetic will be used to put you to sleep during the process.
Along with that just like with other cases of anxiety it may help to see a professional psychologist who can help you work through your issues. In many cases this can help address the underlying cause of the anxiety, and reduce it or even help you to overcome it completely.
As you can see there are many different ways that you can start overcoming your dental anxiety and the important thing is that it should not stand in the way of your regular dental checkups. Talk to your Exeter dentist at the Exeter Dental Centre, Castle Square House, 17 Castle Street, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3PT about it and get their advice too before you decide how to proceed.
