How To Overcome Dental Anxiety: Tips From An Expert
When you search in Google for “how to overcome dental anxiety”, you’ll find a lot of dentists listed in the search results. You’ve got to ask yourself “Are dentists experts in how to overcome a fear?”. Of course, the answer is “No”. Dentists are experts in dental matters. Hypnotherapists are experts in helping people overcome extreme fear. To be fair to dentists, some are better than others at allaying dental fear, but it is not their speciality.
So, expecting your dental provider to help you overcome severe anxiety would be like asking your mechanic to perform open heart surgery on you. When it comes to irrational fear, there really are just three effective strategies for finally stopping feelings of anxiety every time you have a dental appointment. These are:
- Hypnotherapy: For many decades, hypnotherapists all over the world have been helping people to overcome fears of all types very successfully
- NLP: Most hypnotherapists also use techniques from the field of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to make their therapy more permanent and successful.
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is the most evidence-based approach of the lot and has a proven track record of helping people deal with fear of needles, fear of pain, fear of loss of control, etc.
What Is Dental Phobia?
If you have a fear of the dentist, you’ll still go anyway even though you experience negative feelings. When you have extreme dental anxiety or dental phobia, you’ll come up with any excuse to avoid dental treatment.
In many cases, the fear or phobia is triggered by negative thoughts about dental visits or dental procedures long in advance of being in the dental office. Other triggers that can heighten your feelings of anxiety can be the sights and sounds in the waiting room, the smells associated with the dental practice, the sight of the dentist’s chair, the sound of the drills, seeing the white coats or uniforms of the dental staff, etc.
What Causes Severe Dental Anxiety?
Some of the most common causes of dental anxiety are:
- Traumatic Experiences: A common problem is having had previous negative experiences in a dental setting. This predisposes you to have a fear that it’ll be just as bad this time.
- Fear Of Choking: People who produce a significant amount of saliva or who don’t swallow that well can fear choking on their own saliva.
- Agoraphobia: Agoraphobics fear being in situations they cannot escape from. Being able to have honest communication with your dentist can help alleviate this fear.
- Claustrophobia: When a dentist is leaning in close to you, if you’re claustrophobic, you can feel like you are in a tight space.
- Fear Of Pain: Nobody likes pain (at least most normal people!). If you imagine it could be painful, then you can start feeling anxious feelings about that potential pain.
- Fear Of Needles: If you’ve had a previous bad experience with needles in a dental setting, it can be understandable to fear that needle that’s coming your direction.
- Anxiety Disorders: An unrelated anxiety disorder such as PTSD can cause you to categorize the trip to the dentist as a trigger.
Self-Hypnosis Audio For Fear Of Dentists
Self-hypnosis can be a great tool to help you visualize being calm and in control all the way through a dental appointment.
How Common Is Dental Anxiety?
I have met very few people who have ever said to me that they love everything about going to the dentist. Most people regard it as a slightly uncomfortable but necessary experience. If you ask all the people you know if they like the idea of getting a needle into their gum, most will answer by saying “No”. It is a common issue to have a low level of dental anxiety amongst the vast majority of people. It is much less common to have a dental phobia where you completely avoid necessary dental care.
Common Dental Anxiety Symptoms
Have you ever had any of these symptoms while thinking about your next dental visit, or being in the dental environment?
- Has your heart started beating quickly and urgently?
- Have you begun to sweat a little?
- Have you ever fainted or felt like fainting in a dentist’s office?
- Have you ever felt like you would love to get up and run away when you are sitting in the dental chair?
- Have you ever canceled an upcoming dental appointment because of fear of the unknown?
Self-Hypnosis Audio For Fear Of Dentists
Self-hypnosis can be a great tool to help you visualize being calm and in control all the way through a dental appointment.
How Do Dentists Calm Patients?
Some dentists are naturally calming. I had a dentist many years ago who was always cheery and talking about everything other than what he was about to do. Without ever telling any of his patients, he was using distraction techniques to give them a more comfortable experience. Many dentists attempt this but in order to succeed at distracting the patient, they have to really get into character and seem interested in what they are trying to distract you with.
I accompanied my ex-wife to a dental appointment many years ago. She had a habit of fainting if dentists told her what they were about to do because she had experienced a very traumatic dental visit as a child. Even though she had clearly told this dentist about this when it came to administering the injection, he told her in great detail, what he was about to do. Of course, she promptly fainted and he came running out into the waiting area. He was clearly panicked and told me she had fainted, and that we should get her out into the fresh air immediately.
Because I was well used to her fainting, I laughed and told him to sprinkle a bit of water on her face. I also told him that it was his fault for telling her in detail about the procedure. This is why it’s really important to find the right dentist if you suffer from dental anxiety.
How To Permanently Overcome Fear Of The Dentist
There are a number of steps to permanently overcoming your fear of the dentist. They are:
- The Right Dentist: Find someone who is confident and calm. Typically, this will be someone with years of experience. Dental professionals who have a good sense of humor and a nice personality that you gel with are probably the ones you’ll have a positive experience with.
- Fear Therapy: Remember that your dentist is not an expert on fear. If your dental phobia is extreme, you may need to see a qualified mental health professional (eg. a hypnotherapist or a person qualified in CBT)
- Self Help: You can help yourself by monitoring the words you use to describe a dentist appointment to yourself. Never say “I can’t”. Replace with “I won’t”. Also, you can download my self-hypnosis recording entitled “Overcome Fear Of Dentists” and listen at home for 30 days (at least).
Self-Hypnosis Audio For Fear Of Dentists
Self-hypnosis can be a great tool to help you visualize being calm and in control all the way through a dental appointment.
Self Hypnosis For Fear Of The Dentist
Self-hypnosis can help you to permanently overcome your fear of dentists. Essentially, listening to a self-hypnosis recording will help you to change what you believe about an upcoming dental experience. We can reframe “I can’t” into “It may be mildly uncomfortable at times but I can easily do it”.
My recording “Overcome Fear Of Dentists” will help you to let go of past traumatic experiences and visualize any upcoming dental appointment as a positive experience where you succeed at being calm and in control throughout the appointment.
Author: Paul Hunter
Although thousands of people read his blog every month, Paul's path to success was not an easy one. Click here to read his amazing story "From Unwanted Baby And Adopted To A Respected Self Help Blogger". If you want to send Paul a quick message, then visit his contact page here
