¿Dental phobia?

Dental phobia is extremely common. It has been estimated that 60% of Spanish avoid seeing the dentist because of anxiety and fear and more than 27 million people have some kind of fear when seeing a dentist. Some of the signs of dental phobia include: tense or have trouble sleeping the night before a dental exam, get increasingly nervous while you’re in the waiting room or panic and have trouble breathing when objects are placed in your mouth during a dental appointment.

A phobia is an intense, unreasonable fear. People can fear a specific activity, object or situation. People with dental phobia often put off routine care for years or even decades. Odontophobia is condition depicting an irrational and overwhelming fear of dentistry, is a very real fear for many people, and is one of the phobias recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). That fear may respond to various situations: the fear that treatment hurts, panic needles or rejection to sounds or odors clinic and especially pain or discomfort during previous dental procedures.

It is essential to maintain an appropriate periodicity in dental visits. People with dental phobia have a higher risk of gum disease and early tooth loss. Furthermore, the fear to dentist causes worse oral pathologies and the need to make complex treatments and more damaging from the medical sight.

How can you deal with this phobia?

• First of all you have to find the cause, analyze and reflect on it. In addition, it is recommended that you request information on treatments and talk personally with the dentist. This way needless fears can be dispelled and the dentist will guide you and help you share and sort through your odontophobia.
• Its recommend that an immediate relative or trusted friend attend this consultation with you. To help you perceive the clinic as friendly and familiar, and also will help you detach during the waiting time.
• Try relaxation techniques such as meditation or deep breathing. Focus on your breathing and concentrate on the incoming and outgoing breath or concentrate on your breathing rate or just before inspire, think of the word «happy», «peace» or «peace».

Definitely, having a beautiful and healthy smile doesn’t mean pain or complex dental procedure. There are many benefit: good oral health, less problems in the medium and long term, even fewer visits to the dentist except the ones for reviews and dental cleaning.

In addition, the incorporation of the latest techonology and the emergence of the emotional odontology a new style of the understanding of the treatment, where the dentist is much more than just a doctor will make you lose the fear. Especially, when you know how your perfect smile will look like, even before starting the treatment. The smile plays a key aspect in both personally and professionally, that’s the reason why it is necessary to take care of it.