Oral health is very important to be maintained and practiced as early as possible. Unfortunately, not everyone is fond of going to a dental clinic and meeting a dentist. These days, dental phobia, also known as odontophobia, commonly called as dentophobia or have a fear of dentists can be heard by most people who had problems with their oral health. An individual who suffer from this phobia have extreme anxiety of consulting to a dentist or being in the same room with them.
Phobia is an anxiety disorder. They are known to have an excessive fear of an event, situation, it may even lead to fear of things, animals and whatnot that are actually not harmful at all. Dental anxiety is very common but fortunately there are ways in order to overcome it. Most people have bad experiences in childhood and dental phobia may have come from that experience and/or trauma. Some say that because of this reason; a lot of people are afraid of dentists and even doctors. People who happen to have this phobia might also think that all treatments performed by the dentist will be painful and hard to handle.
As the saying goes, the only way to destroy that fear is to face them. We all know that coming to the dentist is never pleasant but like what was stated above, there are always ways to actually minimize the discomfort level and make it slightly more pleasant for the patient. Below are the strategies to help you cope with dental phobia.
- Contact a friend or a family member – this first option is the most common way in order to lessen your fear. These are the people you trust your whole life, meaning you can speak to either of them and ask for recommendations, a 24 Hour Dentist in Los Angeles that they trust as much as they know for sure that you will too in the future. You ask them for an advice and that one particular dentist they trust may have ways to actually help you out with your danger anxiety. Be certain that the chosen dentist knows how to handle and address dental fear.
- Open up to your dentist – explaining to the dentist what your fears are helps them find ways to help you face that fear. Be very clear and precise in your communication because that way it allows them to help you move forward with the dental treatments.
Research shows that dental phobia could have a negative effect on a person’s well-being. People who have dentophobia will find it hard to socialize or communicate with their peers because of embarrassment and can also affect their work or school performance. Our oral health plays an important role in life and is an aspect of our overall well-being. There are other ways to cope with dental phobia and if it worsens, face that fear, contact your dentist so they can accommodate you. It takes time and effort to make a progress but it isn’t impossible.