Dental Phobia

It is believed that at least one in five people living in the UK is afraid to visit the dentist, due to some form of dental phobia. That fear and nervousness, caused even by the thought of stepping into a dental practice, can mean lots of different things.

Dental anxiety seems to be a combination of multiple factors that lead a person to feeling anxiety about going to the dentist. We see so many nervous patients at our practice and one of the first things that they tell us is that the calming environment and our friendly, informal approach helps to ease the nerves. However some patients that we see are so terrified that it takes a couple of appointments just to come to terms with talking about their dental problems. There are a wide range of reasons why people have an inbuilt fear of visiting the dentist, it could be something as simple as the sound of the drill, a previous experience or the clinical smell and environment of a dental practice.

The key to overcoming a phobia or fear of visiting the dentist is to take the first step and speak to somebody about it. It may be comforting to know that no matter how nervous that you are we will have seen and treated someone more nervous than you.

Some of our patients are so scared of visiting the dentist that they are in tears when they make the first phone call and speak to us about their concerns. It may take a few phone calls before you come in and make your first appointment but it is a journey that we take with our patients every day.

There are many people just like you that think having treatment will be painful and have associated smells and sounds with unpleasant memories from the past. One of the greatest news is that dentistry has advanced so much recently that seeing a dentist is no longer a reason to be afraid of.

For three major reasons:

• You can ask for Sedation Dentistry (a procedure where we give you medication to put you into a relaxed dreamlike state) and feel at ease as your dentist is working on your teeth, with lovely background music playing. Intravenous sedation is completely painless, and the same applies to the WAND, which is a computerised injection system that looks much like a pen and delivers the anaesthetic in small doses at a time. It is ideal for anyone with a needle phobia. Alternatively, a numbing gel can be used to numb your gums before an injection, so you don’t feel the needle at all.
• We also provide inhalation sedation which involves the use of ‘laughing gas’ delivered via a nasal hood for adults & children. This is well received by all and the recovery time is extremely fast.
• Dr Gill Kemp provides all the sedation dentistry in the practice and has a background in treating anxious and phobic patients. She has a calm and understanding manner and will ensure that you have a comfortable visit at Cheltenham & Cotswold Dental.

For any detailed enquiries, please contact one of our treatment coordinators on www.cheltenhamandcotswolddental.com
or 01242 269498