Overpowering Our Fear Of Dentists

By Author: Henry Tyler
Total Articles: 31
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We’ve heard of Chandler men who have no interest at all of going to a doctor even just for checkups. That’s just them being outwardly macho but inwardly afraid of knowing what illnesses are running around in their bodies. But there are some people who really just have an aversion to dentists, whether they’re dentists in Arizona or anywhere else.

Some have real phobias stemming from traumatic experiences on the dental chair. They’re called odontophobia or dentophobia. But for most people, it’s just the whole idea of being under those lights with our mouths open the whole time and those metallic things poking on our teeth. It’s just us being six year olds again, scared of what’s under our bed. No matter how many assurances we get, we just can’t get over it.

So how do we overcome this irrational fear? It may sound funny for a grown-up to be afraid of dentists but it’s actually debilitating especially when we really need to go to one already.

Causes

It’s first good to know what causes these fears. Whether you’re a grown-up, a college student or it’s for your child, let’s all ...
... treat each other like we’re six year olds and analyze the root causes of our fears.

One of the causes of dental fear is the negative image cartoons or even the mass media portray them. Looney Tunes alone have featured dentists as these hulking figures looming over you with a buzzing drill. Creepy ain’t it?

Second, it’s what Wikipedia calls Vicarious Learning where we assimilate other people’s harrowing experiences into our subconscious. We then think that all visits to the dentists will be that painful.

Third, it’s the lack of control. What is more constrained than the feeling as if you’re strapped to a chair like a prisoner of war being tortured for information?

But the most vital of all is our own precise experience under a dentist. So yes, a dental experience may be painful at times. We don’t get a lollipop after like with a pediatrician. And that drill really sounds painful when it’s inside our mouth. And sometimes when we spit there’s blood. And sometimes…well, in short, going to a dentist isn’t a walk in the park.

Treatments

Some dentists incorporate the treatment of anxiety disorder on dentistry in their method. This method includes relaxation therapy or visualization exercises. For some extreme cases, patients are given anxiolytics to calm them down. And in really extreme cases, a sedative so that you’ll be asleep the whole time and just wake up when the procedure is done.

Talking to your dentist about your concerns is also a good way to overpower your fear. Sometimes our embarrassment for having this fear is also part of the fear. And, just like anything, admitting that there’s a problem is the first step to the solution. Fear of dentists isn’t an uncommon problem and dentists themselves are aware of this issue. By being open about it, you both can work out a system that can help you overcome this phobia.

Buddha said, as a whole, “Life is suffering.” So chin up. It’s not the end of the world. And it’ll be over in an hour or so. Plus, if it’s a tooth extraction, you may not get a lollipop but you can have all the ice cream you want in the next door Chandler ice cream parlor.

Looking for an Arizona Dentist? Kyrene Family Dentistry offers quality Chandler Family Dentistry.